Schertelshöhle, Show cave in Westerheim, Germany.

The Schertelshöhle is a 212-metre dripstone cave near Westerheim on the Swabian Alb, lying at 775 m on the right slope of a dry valley above the upper Filstal. It has two passages on different levels: the lower, up to 15 m high and 97 m long, and the upper, 75 m of which are opened to visitors. Stalagmites and sinter areas are visible; the cave association Westerheim maintains it.

First mentioned in 1470 as Schretzenloch, the cave was explored in 1820 after Baron von Schertel's lost hunting dog was heard whimpering in a shaft. In 1828/29 the Wiesensteig notary Scheuffele funded a breakthrough, dug in 1830/31 as a comfortable entrance tunnel. The cave later served as a beer cellar and opened as a show cave in 1902.

The name Schertelshöhle comes from a legend: Baron von Schertel lost his hunting dog near Westerheim, heard whimpering from a deep hole, and had helpers lowered by rope to free it, discovering the cave. Earlier names were Schretzenloch (1470) and Scherzenloch. The cave is cared for by the Höhlenverein Westerheim.

Visits are possible from Palm Sunday through mid-November, with guided tours lasting about half an hour. Parking is located a short distance from the cave entrance, making it convenient for visitors to reach the site.

Under the Kuhloch, a 24-metre-deep former entrance shaft, bones and teeth of reindeer and wild horse were found alongside remains of modern cows. The cave's showpiece, called its "treasure" by the Höhlenverein Westerheim, is a stepped sinter basin with sawtooth edges on the feeding sinter flags.