Gudenus cave, Natural monument cave near Krems, Austria

Gudenus cave is a small natural cavity that extends about 22 meters into the rock face. It sits roughly 7.5 meters above the Little Krems River with a width of about 2 to 3 meters throughout its passage.

The cave served as a shelter during the Stone Age when Neanderthals and early modern humans lived in the region. Excavations in the 1800s uncovered tools and animal bones that reveal how long people used this location.

The cave is named after the Gudenus family, an old noble house still resident in Albrechtsberg an der Großen Krems and Gföhl. Reichsfreiherr Heinrich von Gudenus, then owner of Hartenstein castle and the surrounding land, permitted and funded the first excavations here. The geological trail nearby explains the limestone and marble cliffs and the granite of the Waldviertel.

The cave lies 7.5 m above the Little Krems, below Burg Hartenstein; the footpath starts at the Maigenmühle between Albrechtsberg and Weinzierl am Walde and is a hiking trail, not a cycling route. The footbridge over the Little Krems was removed as unsafe (as of 2024), so check access before setting out. A geological trail nearby explains the limestone, marble and granite of the Waldviertel.

The cave also yielded a reindeer bone engraved with a reindeer head and, uniquely for Austria, bones of the saiga antelope, identified when the finds were reassessed in the 1990s. Excavation has cleared the cave down to the bedrock.