Weißenstädter Kellerwelt

Useful Information

Location:	Kellerhaus, 95163 Weißenstadt. A9 exit 39 Bad Berneck/Himmelskron, B303/E48 towards Bad Berneck, exit Bischofsgrün/Weißenstadt, towards Weißenstadt. After entering the town on Bayreuther Straße, on the right, opposite the petrol station. (50.097244, 11.880918)
Open:	After appointment. [2023]
Fee:
Classification:	Cellar Ice Cellars
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Stadt- und Kellerführungen, Kerstin Olga Hirschmann, Tel: +49-151-17337105. E-mail: Kur- & Tourist Information Weißenstadt, Wunsiedler Straße 4, 95163 Weißenstadt, Tel: +49-9253-95030. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

18th century

cellars constructed.

Description

The Weißenstädter Kellerwelt (Weissenstadt cellar world) are cellars of considerable length carved into the granite with side galleries. Once there were about 200 of these rock cellars in Weißenstadt, today about 130 cellars remain. They were built in the 18th century, which makes sense, because before that the amount of work was far too great and the cellars would have been far too expensive. But in the 18th century mining had developed to such an extent that even the hard granite could be worked.

The cellars were used, as the name suggests, as storage for crops, especially potatoes and turnips, and as storage rooms for beer and ice. Their use as ice cellars ended with the introduction of refrigeration technology at the end of the 19th century. Today the cellars are no longer used.

The Weissenstadt cellars are listed as an architectural monument of Weissenstadt and have been inscribed on the Bavarian list of monuments. They also serve as winter quarters for bats and are therefore closed during the winter. Guided tours of the town, which include a visit to the cellars, are offered by Kerstin Olga Hirschmann by appointment.