Ausweichsitz Nordrhein-Westfalen


Useful Information

Location: Am Gillesbach 1, 53925 Kall-Urft
Open: All year Sat 16.
[2014]
Fee: Adults EUR 10, Cildren (0-14) EUR 5.
[2014]
Classification: SubterraneaSecret Bunker
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: Ar=1.000m², L=35 m, W=29 m, VR=16 m. T=7 °C.
Guided tours: D=2h
Photography: Not allowed on regular tours. There are three or four photography days per year.
Accessibility: Not accessible, many stairs.
Bibliography:
Address: Dokumentationsstätte ehemaliger Ausweichsitz der Landesregierung NRW, Harald Röhling, Am Gillesbach 1, 53925 Kall-Urft, Tel: +49-2441-775171, Fax: +49-2441-775172. E-mail: contact
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History

1962 bunker built by the Landesregierung NRW in the Eifel.
1993 bunnker decomissioned and sold.
2009 opened to the public as a museum.

Description

This secret bunker was erected by the government of the German federal state Nordrhein-Westfalen in the early sixties. It was intended as a command bunker for a nuclear war and was equipped with infrastructure like telephone systems, tlegraph, and a radio station, for the organization of the war government. It was planned to house the Ministerpräsident (president) and 200 of his staff. The bunker is 35 m by 29 m big and 16 m deep, but as it is built into the hillside the entrance is a tunnel with a staircase up into the bunker.

The bunker was begun in 1962 and most of its equipment is from the sixties. Soon after the end of the cold war, in 1993, it was decomissioned and sold. The bunker was sold to the son in law of the former caretaker, who is maintaining the site as a museum. It is open once a week, after appointment and on special occasions. Additionally there are Fototage (photography days) which include a normal tour, a lunch, and almost unlimited time for photography.

The bunker was actually a secret bunker, as it was never officially published during the cold war. It was named Warnamt Eifel, which is a codename without actual meaning. It was generally explained to be a plant for drinking water. The parts of the bunker which were visible on the surface were covered by gras and trees, and the entrance was tarned as a double garage. The caretakers house was intended to be the official facade, it looked like a normal private home.