Cities & Culture
Government Bunker Documentation Site Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
In March 2008, a 200-metre-long section of this former government bunker was transformed into a museum on the Cold War, telling the exceptional tale of the events that took place in recent decades.
When the Federal Republic of Germany joined NATO in 1955, the country agreed to set up a temporary alternative headquarters for its constitutional bodies. And the optimum location for the government bunker required was found in the Ahr Valley, not too far away from the former capital city, Bonn. This was to become the most top-secret building in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was involved in the plans from the outset. The guided tour of the bunker, which lasts one and a half hours, takes visitors down to an underground world that used to be top secret.
The extensive collection of documents and original objects on display in the actual location informs visitors about this chapter in German history, which was part of a worldwide stand-off between the superpowers in the East and West. By the time the bunker complex was completed in 1971, it spanned 17.3 kilometres and consisted of 936 sleeping quarters and 897 offices. When it was dismantled between 2001 and 2006, 203 metres of the original site were maintained to be used as a documentation site. Opening times: 6 April to 10 November: Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday: 10 am–6 pm