Emmi Cheese Cave Kaltbach

Useful Information

Location:	Sandsteinhöhe 1, Kaltbach, north of Luzern. (47.1825, 8.0628)
Open:	Once per month, after appointment, at 18. [2010]
Fee:	free. [2010]
Classification:	Cellar
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	L=2,000 m, T=10-12.5 °C, H=94%.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Emmi Käse AG, customer service, Habsburgerstrasse 12, 6002 Luzern. E-mail: Information and registration: Free: 0800-570757.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1956	extra 150 m added.
1972-1976	another 350 m added.
1991	extended to a total of 1,000 m.
2010	extended to a total of 2,000 m.

Description

Emmi is a Swiss chees company, which is obviously named after the Emmental cheese. The company buys chees from numerous dairy companies and other cheese producers, stores them in artificial sandstone caves where the cheese is tended to perfection and matured in ideal climatic conditions and then sold all over central Europe. The sandstone caves, located at Kaltbach near Luzerne, have been enlarged with the amount of cheese sold by the company. Originally local farmers stored their produce and equipment in the caves. From an original length of some 50 m, the cave extended again and again. Currently it has a length of 2,000 m and houses 50,000 wheels of cheese.

The sandstone is ideal for the maturation of cheese because it regulates humidity. The climate in the cave is constant all year round. It is used to mature mostly Emmentaler and Gruyère produced by the 10 best cheese dairies in Switzerland. They stay in the caves for several months.

Visitation of the caves are offered on a regular basis, but only to Friends of Kaltbach. Visit their website to register for free. Then you may inscribe on a waiting list, as the visits are fully booked for almost a year in advance. But the visits are free and include an opulent cheese buffet.