Discover the secret bunker in Bregenz: 700 meters full of history!

Discover the secret bunker in Bregenz: 700 meters full of history!

Bregenz, Österreich - Wolfgang Sieber, the school keeper of the Sacré Coeur Riedenburg, leads interested groups through a secret bunker that was built in Bregenz during the Second World War. The bunker , which hid under the Riedenburg monastery, is accessible via a hidden case and was used as an air protection bunker for wounded and civilians. With space for up to 3,500 people, he offered crucial protection in crisis times.

The construction of the air -raid shelter began in October 1944. Within just six months, the tunnel network, which has a length of around 700 meters, was completed and ready for use on February 24, 1945. Although it was only used on two days in April 1945, the bunker is an impressive testimony to the war architecture. It keeps a temperature of 12 degrees and the gears are 2.40 meters high and wide. In addition to a supply tunnel for food distribution, traces of emergency beds and brackets for gas or petroleum-powered lamps can also be found.

The use and meaning of the bunker

The bunker's missions were clearly defined: it served as a shelter for the citizens of Riedensburg during the attacks. The location below the monastery, which was built between 1862 and 1865, as well as the rental of parts of the monastery to the German Wehrmacht from 1940 underline the strategic importance of this structure. The air -raid shelter was set up on the advice of the location doctor, with the construction management being at the office of the city of Bregenz. The entire building cost 300,000 Reichsmark [Austriawiki] .

On April 30, 1945, the citizens were asked to go to the bunker because a fire was revealed by the French army. Many people had to spend 30 hours in the tunnel before they were released on May 2, 1945. This bunker system, which is up to 40 meters below the surface, can offer up to 4,000 people protection and has three inputs. Access in the monastery leads to the shelter via a steep staircase and a ramp.

memory and preservation

Since 2013, Wolfgang Sieber has been running school classes and other interested parties through the bunker every year and has reached around 5,000 people. Students particularly appreciate the test of courage in the dark that the bunker offers. His well -preserved holders, including an old women's shoe and the skeleton of a small cat, invite you to explore and convey a feeling for the history of the place.

In recent years, the bunker was also a popular location and in 2019 served as a backdrop for the crime series "The Dead by Lake Constance". In addition, the history of the Riedenburg Air Protection bunker shows how such structures represented a protective facility in the Second World War in order to offer the civilian population and the wounded security, which not only benefited the residents of Bregenz, but also in the entire region of Vorarlberg wikipedia .