Silberberg Tunnel Memorial

The Silberberg Tunnel Memorial in the eastern portal of the Silberberg Tunnel (2018)

The Silberberg Tunnel memorial is a memorial near Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate . It reminds us that towards the end of the Second World War the Silberberg Tunnel offered up to 2500 people protection from Allied bombing attacks .

description

The memorial is located in the east portal of the Silberberg tunnel leading through the Silberberg. The site, designed as a small open-air museum , was opened on July 3, 2004 by the Alt-Ahrweiler Heimatverein . Previously, the Heimatverein had uncovered the overgrown tunnel entrance, as well as parts of the "city in the mountain", and built some of the earlier huts at the tunnel entrance. The memorial is financed by donations from the population. It is located on the red wine hiking trail .

Reinforced concrete wall at the tunnel entrance against attacks from low-level aircraft
“Büdchen” of the tunnel dwellers
"Büdchen" with the house number 1

history

The 660 meter long Silberberg tunnel was created for the railway line of the Strategic Railway Embankment , which was built from 1910, but never went into operation due to a construction stop in 1923. In 1944 and 1945, the tunnel offered the residents of Ahrweiler protection from low-flying and bombing attacks. The people settled down permanently in the tunnel and created wooden dwellings in them, which were called “Büdchen” and in which up to 20 people lived. The huts were numbered and there was a post office. In the middle of the tunnel, Adolf-Hitler-Allee was kept free for bicycle traffic. This created a "city in the mountain" that accommodated up to 2500 people and thus 80% of the civilian population of Ahrweiler. In 1947 the tunnel was blown up by French pioneers.

Web links

Commons : Silberberg Tunnel Memorial - Collection of images

Tunnel memorial at the "Alt-Ahrweiler" local history association
Entry on the Silberberg Tunnel memorial in Ahrweiler in the " KuLaDig " database of the Rhineland Regional Council
The city in the mountain at Heimatverein "Alt-Ahrweiler"

Individual evidence

↑ The tunnel bunker became a memorial . In: Heimatjahrbucharchiv des Kreises Ahrweiler, 2005. Retrieved on November 11, 2018
↑ The city in the mountain urges peace . In: General-Anzeiger , March 4, 2005. Retrieved November 10, 2018
↑ The city in the mountain is a memorial and museum. In: General-Anzeiger, June 22, 2004. Retrieved November 10, 2018

50.54515 7.08948Coordinates: 50 ° 32 '42.5 " N , 7 ° 5' 22.1" E

[1] The tunnel bunker became a memorial . In: Heimatjahrbucharchiv des Kreises Ahrweiler, 2005. Retrieved on November 11, 2018

[2] The city in the mountain urges peace . In: General-Anzeiger , March 4, 2005. Retrieved November 10, 2018

[3] The city in the mountain is a memorial and museum. In: General-Anzeiger, June 22, 2004. Retrieved November 10, 2018