The cave was discovered in the 16th century by miners, who were looking for deposits of limonite or 'brown iron ore'. In 1524, the presence of caverns in the Iberg massif was mentioned for the first time. The first account in 1737 described a visit to the cave by a doctor, Franz Ernst Brückmann, on 30 March 1723. In 1874, paths and steps were laid out and the show cave was opened to the public with a viewable length of 220 metres. The entrance gallery, the Captain Spatzier Gallery (Hauptmann-Spatzier-Stollen), was built in 1910 and 1911. Electric lighting was added in 1912 and was extended in 1935.