Parkhöhle
About This Site
Twelve metres under the Park an der Ilm there is a tunnel system, dug in the 1790s to store beer for a brewery that was never built. It has been a quarry, a court promenade and an air-raid shelter since, and it is now open as a walk through 200,000 years of earth and human history.
Dug for a brewery that never opened, 1794–1796
The tunnels were driven between 1794 and 1796 under Carl August, intended for beer storage and for draining a planned brewery. The brewery was abandoned, and the shafts were then used for extracting sand and gravel, which is how a small cellar became an extensive network. Weimar's classical decades are usually presented as literature and landscape gardening; this is the same period pursuing an industrial scheme underground and giving it up.
A promenade, then a shelter, 1810–1830
Between 1810 and 1830 the passages served as an underground walk for court society and park visitors — a curiosity to show people. In the Second World War they were converted into an air-raid shelter. One tunnel system, eighty years apart, first an amusement for a court and then a place to survive a bombing: few sites in Weimar carry the two centuries as plainly.
Going down, 1992–1999
The system had partly filled and decayed before a thorough restoration between 1992 and 1999 made it accessible again. It is not step-free, and the foundation advises sturdy shoes and long clothing — it is a cave, not a corridor. Open Wednesday to Monday, shorter hours in winter.
Questions visitors ask
- What is the Parkhöhle?
- A tunnel system twelve metres under the Park an der Ilm, now open as a walk through 200,000 years of earth and human history.
- Why was it dug, and why did the brewery never happen?
- The tunnels were driven between 1794 and 1796 under Duke Carl August for beer storage and drainage for a planned brewery. The brewery was abandoned, and the shafts were then used for extracting sand and gravel instead.
- What other uses has it had?
- Between 1810 and 1830 it served as an underground promenade for court society and park visitors. In the Second World War it was converted into an air-raid shelter.
- Can I visit, and what should I wear?
- Yes — Wednesday to Monday, 10:00–16:00 in winter and 10:00–18:00 in summer. It is not step-free; the foundation advises sturdy shoes and long clothing, since it is a cave, not a corridor. €7 adults, €5 reduced, €2 for pupils aged 16–20.
Connected Historical Figures
duke • grand duke • patron
They were dug under him, between 1794 and 1796, for a brewery that was never built.
Visit Information
€7 adults; €5 reduced; €2 pupils aged 16–20
Wed–Mon; 10:00–16:00 in winter, 10:00–18:00 in summer
Park an der Ilm, 99423 Weimar
In Weimar's history
Historical periods
The classical decades underground: an industrial scheme, abandoned, then used as a novelty.
For roughly sixty years a duchy of a few thousand people held the centre of German literature, because its ruler kept inviting writers to live there and then gave them jobs. That is the whole mechanism, and it ran from Goethe's arrival in 1775 to his death in 1832.
Converted into an air-raid shelter during the Second World War.
The regime wanted Weimar for what its name meant, and it built a concentration camp on the hill above the town. Both facts belong to the same twelve years.