History of the historic rock corridors
The Historic Rock Tunnels are an enormous system of tunnels and cellars beneath Nuremberg’s Old Town. It extends over four storeys down to a depth of 20 metres. As part of our guided tours, you can enter it via the staircase at Albrecht-Dürer-Platz. This labyrinth, which is unique in southern Germany in this dimension, has even been designated a geoscientifically valuable geotope by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment.
The first corridors were probably created around 700 years ago when people wanted to create a place where beer could be matured and stored at cool temperatures all year round. The average temperature in the widely ramified complex, which grew to around 25,000 m² at its largest, is around 9 °C. Cooling domes, cross-floor shafts that were once filled with natural ice in winter, were used to lower the temperature even further.
Partly due to the poor quality of drinking water in the cities, barley juice was of central importance in the Middle Ages and was consumed in far greater quantities than today. However, it is also important to bear in mind that the alcohol content was significantly lower at the time.
Almost 2 million visitors
Today, the Historic Rock Walks are livelier and more diverse than ever before. Around 1.8 million people had visited a guided tour by 2024 and the number is growing every day. In addition to German and English, many other languages echo through the long cellar corridors. In addition to the themed tours, art and culture have also found a home in the vaults: On level 4, the lowest floor, there is a varied programme. The children’s tour also scores points with an exciting treasure hunt and there are two escape rooms for big puzzle fans. With this attractive set-up, the Historic Rock Cellars are now also popular with groups, who can book special private tours. Companies like to use this option as a team-building event.
Original Nuremberg red beer
Typical of Nuremberg’s beer culture in the Middle Ages was red beer, which dominated the market over the centuries but then fell into oblivion for a long time. Fortunately, the Altstadthof brewery resurrected it back in the 1980s, so that you can now try this unique brewing speciality again, along with a few other exciting varieties. Its most important secret is the malt, which also gives it its colour. As part of the red beer tour and the combined tour ‘700 years of brewing tradition’, you are welcome to taste it for a small surcharge.
Important role in air defence
Despite the devastating bombing raids during the Second World War, which destroyed or severely damaged large parts of the historic city centre, Nuremberg suffered relatively few fatalities. This was certainly also due to the well-developed air-raid defences, for which the rock cellars were also upgraded. Today’s entrance at the Albrecht Dürer memorial dates back to that dark era. Around 15,000 to 20,000 people were supposed to be able to find refuge in the rocky passages at the time. In reality, however, probably twice as many people sought shelter there.
In order to improve accessibility, capacity and escape options, many previously isolated cellars were connected at the time. To ensure protection from bombs, many of the ventilation shafts that had already been built in the 14th century were filled in. What certainly made sense in wartime later turned out to be a problem. Due to a lack of air exchange, dampness spread in the cellars, which gnawed at the sandstone substance and made various construction measures necessary to support it.