Esperhöhle, Archaeological cave in Gößweinstein, Germany.

The Esperhöhle is a karst cave ruin near Leutzdorf in the Franconian Jura, consisting of grottoes, collapsed sections and side chambers. Its most notable feature is a shaft about 22 metres deep, the Klingloch, which can only be descended using single-rope technique. At its bottom are water basins with continuous stalactite-stalagmite columns (stalagnates) in the cave wall, and small side chambers lead back out two metres higher.

The cave held importance during the Late Hallstatt and Early La Tène periods, as evidenced by bone remains and artifacts found there. These discoveries suggest ritual or burial practices, making it a significant archaeological site.

The cave is named after Johann Friedrich Esper, the pastor who first explored it to its end in the 18th century. Long before that, people of the late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods left human bones and artefacts here, and the cave is now classed as a Bodendenkmal; the finds are kept in the Natural History Museum in Nuremberg.

The cave entrance sits at about 440 metres above sea level on the north flank of a 469.3-metre wooded hill, roughly 900 metres northwest of Leutzdorf, above the Wiesent valley. The front sections are low and fairly easy to reach; the 22-metre shaft in the Klingloch can only be descended with single-rope technique. A large collapse doline lies in front of the entrance.

Local people once used the cave as a natural storage space, keeping ice there that would last well into summer. This practice shows how inhabitants used the site's unique conditions for everyday needs.