First Caves with Electric Light

The History of Electric Illumination of Caves

A historic step in the development of modern show caves is the electric light. The perception of caves with electric light is so much different than with any other kind of light source. The constant and bright light allows the visitor to see all of the cave without flickering reflections and mysterious moving shadows.

On one side some people regret the loss of mysticism, of romantic cave visits of the 18th century with candles and torches. On the other hand those visits destroyed the cave with the grime and dirt those lights produced, and the people didn't even see the cave they visited, as most of it remained dark.

The development of the electric light allowed a constant, pollution free and bright illumination of the caves. For the first time the visitors were able to concentrate on the beauty of the cave and its formations without distraction.

This is a list of caves which were lighted in the 19th century. It is not complete, but it should at least list the most important caves of this time.

Date	Cave	Location	Explanation
1880	Chifley Cave	Jenolan Caves, Australia.	Early experiments with electric light in caves were carried out by Lieutenant Edward Cracknel. Permanent electric light was installed at Jenolan seven years later, but not in this cave.
26-JUL-1881	Sloupsko-Šošùvské Jeskyně	Czech Republic	First cave in the world with electric arc light. This light did not use light bulbs, but electric arcs between coal electrodes, which were burning down and had to be replaced after some time.
SEP-1881	Luray Caverns	U.S.A.	13 arc lights installed powered by an engine driven generator.
1883	Kraushöhle	Austria	First cave in the world with electric light bulbs as we know them today. But the light was abandoned after only seven years and the cave is today visited with carbide lamps.
1884	Postojnska Jama	Solvenia	Second cave in the world with electric light.
1884	Olgahöhle	Germany	Another second. Unfortunately we do not know the exact day. At least this is the first electric light in Germany.
1886	Dunbar Cave	U.S.A.	Lit by electric generator
1887	Dobšinská L'adová Jaskyna	Slovak Republic	First cave in Hungary(!) with electric light, but today it belongs to the Slovak Republic. They started to use Bunsen's burners in 1882.
1887	Imperial Cave	Jenolan Caves, Australia	First permanent electric lighting at Jenolan. Current was at first supplied by a steam-driven dynamo in the Grand Archway.
1887	Fantastic Caverns	Springfield, Missouri, U.S.A.	First wired for electricity in 1887, for the first 25 years a steam engine was used and then a delco-light replaced the steam engine.
1889	Grand Caverns	Virgina, U.S.A.
1890	Hermannshöhle	Germany
1890	Dechenhöhle	Germany	An early show cave with light installed in 1868 using candles, since 1871 gas, and finally since 1890 electric light. Not the first with electric light but probably the cave with the longest period of continual artificial light system since at least 1871.
1891	Gussmannhöhle	Germany	First electric lighting was stopped after a few weeks because of technical problems. The next time electric light was installed, was in 1922.
1892	Baumannshöhle	Germany
1892	Grotta dei Dossi	Italy	Developed, electric light and opened to the public, it was the first cave with electric light in Italy.
1893	Charlottenhöhle	Germany	A remains of this first light, isolator of glass with copper wires can still be seen.
1894	Lucas Cave	Jenolan Caves, Australia	More caves electrified at Jenolan.
16-SEP-1895	Glenwood Caverns	Fairy Caves, Colorado, USA	The Fairy Cave Company constructed pathways, installed electric light and built an artificial tunnel into the cave.
1896	Belianska Jaskyna	Slovak Republic
1899	Erdmannshöhle	Germany

• See also
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