Archaeologists have found material in and around the cave that indicates habitation since the
Paleolithic era. One specimen, a
reindeer bone with tool markings, has been
radiocarbon dated to approximately 52,000 years ago. The cave was first scientifically explored by the
Italian cave explorer Max Brunello on April 1, 1894. While the higher portions of the cave were known to locals, Brunello was the first to discover the lower portion of the cave. The next attempt to explore further provoked disaster. On April 29, 1894, seven cavers entered the Lurgrotte, despite heavy rainfall. A
flash flood occurred while they were inside, and they wound up trapped for ten days. In February 1905, members of the
Austrian Tourist Club surveyed of passages within the Lurgrotte. In the 1920s, the cave explorer Hermann Mayer worked with his father to develop the Peggauer section of the Lurgrotte for visitors. In addition, they tried to find a link between the Peggauer entry and Semriach entry. On November 26, 1924, the route was cleared by explosives, but it was not until 1935 that the first crossing was possible. On May 23, 1926, the pioneering female cave explorer
Leopoldine "Poldi" Fuhrich fell approximately to her death while exploring Lurgrotte. There is a memorial plaque for her still inside the cave. On July 8, 1927, the District Court of Frohnleiten held another auction of the Lurgrotte, which was eventually won by a wine-trader named Pezzi. Pezzi planned to turn the Lurgrotte into a
show cave and construct railway through the cave. The first complete crossing of about long cave succeeded in 1935. In the following years the Lurgrotte was developed into a show cave, with
infrastructure such as bridges, walkways, and lights added for visitors. From 1962 it was possible for visitors to wander through the entire cave, until 1975, when parts of the infrastructure were washed away in a powerful storm. == Hydrology ==