Klutert cave / Kluterthöhle Step 2. New lighting system in Therapy area.

Position: 51° 17‘ 57“ N, 7° 21‘ 17“ O
Total length: 5678 m
Show cave since: 1884
Second construction phase: September 2016 – November 2016
Illumination: 2014: 210 lamps, 2016: 371 lamps
Place: Ennepetal, Germany

General description
Kluterthöhle is certainly one of the most interesting touristic attractions in the Ruhr Area. It arose more than 300 million years ago and it is one of the biggest show caves in Germany. The cave is more than five kilometers long. Due to its pure air and constant temperature, its therapy area is very popular with allergy sufferers and patients with respiratory diseases

Aim of the project
After large parts of the cave had been cleaned and after the so called lampenflora had been removed, the owner, in collaboration with speleologists, decided to replace the illumination system by modern LEDs. The aim was to ensure show cave operation on a permanent basis and to simultaneously highlight the beauties of the show cave, thus making it more attractive for visitors.

Implementation
During the first construction phase in 2014, 210 LED lamps were installed. A second construction phase followed in 2016: A 450-meter-long section of the cave was equipped with 371 lamps (1145 Watt). Here the passageways were again equipped with redundant safety lighting that is easily distinguishable from the accent lighting of dripstones and other interesting cave formations. Coloured lights (DMX lamps) were installed at determined points in order to achieve further highlights for visitors. This ensured the proper lighting for the many corals and fossils, in particular. The new installation also includes two new stainless steel enclosures and a fibre optic network for monitoring, controlling and the communication between the installed components.

Stafan Voigt, chairman of the workshop Kluterthöhle, was very pleased about the upgrading of the show cave. He pointed out that the town had not invested any money in Kluterthöhle since the 1960/70ies, with the lighting system basically dating back to 1949. “It’s a pity”, he said, but he added with a smile, “on the other hand the wow factor is even greater now.”

Mayor Imke Heymann explained that the cave was a landmark of the town and therefore of particular importance for Ennepetal. This had been made clear since the town was given the name affix “Stadt der Kluterthöhle” in October 2010.

Written by Anna Toplak (Marketing / Sales)

Cave Lighting™

For pictures see this site: Gallerie

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