dokumentationsstaette regierungsbunker

This is the West German government bunker, built in the early 1960s, not far from the capital in Bonn. Guides tours are avalible that explain the history, as well as printed information (for a price) in English and German. Please be advised that it can be cold in the bunker and there's a lack of seating for older people. Also, unlikely to engage children much.

Great trip into the mountain tunnel that became a cold war bunker in the 1960's. If you like the unusual, and want to know more about the thinking of NATO Cold War planning, a 'must see'.Best to get there early though as many others also want to see the facility, and the guided tours do get busy!Unless your German is fluent, a guidebook in your own language is to be recommended, as there are many terms which basic German will not equip you to understand. Fascinating visit, and a real throwback to the 1960's and '70's.

Great place, full of history from the cold war period.From the original bunker only o part of aprox. 100m was transformed in the museum so we can imagine the huge dimensions of the original work.

We visited the German Federal Government Bunker Museum, located near small historical town Ahrweiler, in May 2014. It revealed to us unknown history of construction and existence of the bunker building up between 1960 - 1972 to cover around 3000 people of the German Federal Government (in that time located in Bonn 22 km away), in case of nuclear war or severe war danger. The Bunker is a 17 - 19 km corridors complex underground. It was fortunately never used, but there were military trainings over the years since 1972....In 1997 it was closed and recently 200 m, as museum was opened for public.It is extremely interesting. In the museum, one can see offices, rooms, showers, actually all the equipment still there, which was to be used in case of severe danger. Excursions are organised only in groups and explanations are given only in German. Nevertheless you can buy a booklet and books, some of them are in English as well.We very much recommend to visit the place and combine it with a visit of the Old town Ahrweiler or just to walk around wineyards, which are everywhere.....

It was an amazing place to be, got to see the German technology at its best, as far back as the early 60's. The tour guide was fun to be with(English guide). I learnt the bunker was met to last for 30days, quite am irony, based on the amount of funds spent to build it.

During the cold war this was the bunker for the government in Bonn. In a little under 2 hours the guided tour takes you through part of this 17km long bunker facility. Our guide was excellent, I wont repeat her story here, you should go and experience this yourselves if you're in the neighborhood. Open only in the weekend, on wednesday and public holidays.Bring some warm clothes as it's always 12 degrees Celsius inside.Outside there is a small snack-bar where you can wait for the start of the next tour.

The Regieriungsbunker is a vast complex of tunnels where the top German government officials could have survived for 30 days in case of an atomic attack. It is interesting to see and to imagine 3000 people being closed off from the world there. It is even more curious to know that it probably would never have been used because the German government came to realize that one could not go back outside after 30 days, if an atomic attack had really taken place. Therefore, the better plan was to evacuate the government on board of planes as soon as possible.....Please be aware that the standard tour is conducted in the German language. For groups tours can be organized in a number of other languages.

Very interesting. We had a competent guide who spoke English.It was an easy walk of 7 minutes from the hotel.

This is an amazing sophisticated bunker built into the mountain with long tunnels, heavy doors and machinery maintained in preparations for a possible 3rd world war (alhamdulilah - thanks god did not happen). It was meant to be a refuge for the West Germany It shows the level of sophistication and seriousness of nuclear threats. I personally enjoyed the whole history reflections part.Now why do I give it only 3 star. First it was so busy - really crowded on a Saturday. The tour was in German although the guide was kind enough to do some quick translations when she noticed we did not speak German. I guess if we were a big group, we could possibly ask for an English tour. The other annoying thing is that you have to follow the guide and listen to extended explanation even if you are not interested. You have to go room by room. The good thing is that they still give people jobs although small devices or customized ipods would definitely do the guide job. Then you don't have to wait for the guide and can go at your own pace. It was quite long too (because we had to wait for the guide to finish their presentation).The children were bored and did not enjoy it much - some parts were ok though. We were many in the tour so the kids could not see at times. It was a warm day - it was relatively cold inside. I guess it must be very cold in winter.Recommended for those who are in the area anyway and are interested in history. Definitely not a family trip.

This place was interesting. I would never ever recommend it for children! The tour is long and the information is good but for a child it would not be ideal. The tours are in German so keep that in mind if your visiting. It is cold in there so bring jackets. The tour is pretty sterile and there is a lot of info about the bunker and the way life and politics were at that time. It was interesting- but not really entertaining.

Wie gut, dass die Zeit des kalten Krieges vorbei ist. Dieses Dokumentationszentrum im ehemaligen Regierungsbunker macht einem beklemmend klar, was hätte sein können und wie (wenig letztlich) die Bundesrepublik darauf vorbereitet ist. Die Führung wird sehr sachkundig und engagiert durchgeführt, die Eintrittspreise sind nicht billig, aber eine Anlage wie diese muss ja auch aufwändig unterhalten werden.

Sehr impressionant dieser Bunker,die Führung war sehr gut ,das Museum toll unterhalten .Der Führer hat die Note 1 verdient

Wie man sich zu Zeiten des Kalten Krieges ein Überleben vorstellte- gruselig und frappieren zugleich! Wenn man Glück hat, nimmt an der (öffentlichen) Führung sogar jemand teil, der selber geheime Übungen im Bunker miterlebt hat! Das gab dem Ganzen ncoh einen gewissen Pfiff!

Fast niemand hat gewusst oder geahnt, dass es diesen Bunker gibt. Vor allem: was hatte ein Kanzler davon, ein paar Wochen länger als sein Volk zu leben? Im Grunde ziemlich schräg, aber die Zeit vor nur wenigen Jahrzehnten war wohl so.

Hinter dieser Bezeichnung versteckt sich in den Weinbergen des Ahrtals der ehemalige Ausweichsitz der Bonner Regierung. Heute unterhält ein Verein die „Dokumentationsstätte Regierungsbunker“. Nach Ende des kalten Krieges und der Verlegung der Bundesregierung nach Berlin sollte diese Bunkeranlage zurückgebaut werden. Die Bunkeranlage umfasste einmal 17,3km und 936 Schlaf- sowie 897 Büroräume. Davon konnten 203 Meter als Dokumentationsstätte erhalten werden und seit 2008 besichtigt werden. Man erhält während einer Führung durch den Bunker Einblick in die Funktionsweise und den Betrieb einer solchen Bunkeranlage. Angefangen bei den Druckschleusen, die einem Atomschlag hätten standhalten müssen, über entsprechende Dekontaminationsschleusen, die Krankenstation, Führungs- und Fernmeldemittel, Brandschutzeinrichtungen, die Bereiche der Lebensmittelversorgung, dem Friseursalon bis hin zum Schlafzimmer des Bundeskanzlers . Der Bunker hätte jederzeit bezogen werden können und war auf einen Betrieb von 30 Tagen ausgelegt. Er wurde allerdings in Zeiten des Kalten Krieges nie bezogen. Ausschließlich zu Übungszwecken rückten zweimal im Jahr für 14 Tage Mitarbeiter der Bundesministerien in den Bunker ein.Hier muss man wirklich dem Heimatverein Alt-Ahrweiler danken, der dieses Zeitzeugnis vor der Zerstörung gerettet hat