Parkhöhle Weimar


Useful Information

Location: Weimar. Entrance near Liszt-Haus/Mensa of the Bauhaus-Universität (Bauhaus University).
Open: APR to OCT Tue-Sun 10-12, 13-18.
NOV to MAR Tue-Sun 10-12, 13-16.
Last entry 45 minutes before closing.
[2011]
Fee: Adults EUR 3.50, Reduced EUR 2.50, School pupils EUR 1.50.
[2005]
Classification: SubterraneaSewage System SubterraneaWorld War II Bunker
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: T=9 °C.
Guided tours: D=30 min.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography: Walter Steiner (1996): Die Parkhöhle von Weimar, Abwasserstollen, Luftschutzkeller, Untertagemuseum. Stiftung Weimarer Klassik, ISBN 3-7443-0118-4 (Deutsch - German)
Address: Parkhöhle Weimar, Marienstraße, Park an der Ilm, 99423 Weimar, Tel: +49-3643-545401, Fax: +49-3643-419816. 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.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1794 Herzog Carl August assigns the construction of the adit.
1796 adit completed.
1797 begin of sand mining.
1815 abandoned and forgotten.
1944-45 used as an air raid shelter.
1992 rediscovered and restaurated.
1999 opened for the public.

Description

The Parkhöhle (Park Cave) is located at the Ilm Park and obviously named after this location. The 500 m long tunnel, 12 m below ground, was constructed between 1794 and 1796 after an assignment of Herzog Carl August. It was needed for a brewery, which was a sort of hobby of the Herzog. However, there are numerous websites telling it was intended to store beer. That is obviously not true, it makes no sense to build a 500 m long and narrow tunnel for this purpose. A few cellar vaults would do the same trick without the need to walk a kilometer to fetch a barrel of beer. The tunnel was actually an adit, a drainage tunnel which should allow waste water from the brewery to flow to the Ilm.

The tunnel was never used as an adit, as the brewery was never built and never produced beer. Between 1797 and 1815 the tunnel was used to mine sand and gravel with the room and pillar method. As a result a huge labyrinth of vaults and passages existed around the tunnel. When it was abandoned it was forgotten and fell in disrepair. The tunnel was reopened and cleaned during World War II, and used as an air raid shelter. Because of its depth of 12 m it was very safe, other cities had to use the cellars of houses and many people died after the house had collapsed on top of them. But after the war the tunnel was closed and almost forgotten.

The Parkhöhle is located between the slope of the river Ilm valley and the Belvederer Allee. The entrance is located close to the Liszt-Museum, the other end is at the Nadelöhr (eye of the needle), an artificially created "natural" bridge. There is an underground exhibition explaining the geology and the history of the "cave". This exhibition also makes clear that it is not a cav, although it is named so, because it is of artificial origin.

The rock in which the Parkhöhle is located is travertine or tufa, limestone deposited by a limestone rich spring. It is full of holes and the imprints of plants. The geologic specialty was a reason why this tunnel was often visited by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who lived i Weimar.