World War II Art Bunker
Topics - The End of War
- View across river Pegnitz to Our Lady's Church, 1945.
- The mechanical clock at Our Lady's Church - the so-called "Little Men Running" - today.
Rebuilding Nuremberg after Destruction
Original photographic material and sound recordings recall the World War II air raids which reduced the City of Nuremberg to rubble. 90 per cent of all buildings in the Old Town were destroyed. But all of the art treasures stowed away in the bomb-proof Art Shelter survived the war unscathed.
Honouring the rescue contracts signed when the works of art were taken to the Art Shelter, they were all returned to their rightful owners after the end of the war. But it was to be another 20 years before all the city's devastated churches, museums and archives had been rebuilt and the last objects could be transferred back to their original locations.
Since 1996, the Förderverein Nuremberger Felsengänge e.V. (Association of Friends Nuremberg Rock Cellars) has made the former subterranean shelter accessible to the public in the course of regular guided tours. The exhibition was enhanced in 1997.
Nowadays, the "air conditioning system" is no longer functioning, and the temperature is once again rather low (about 8° C) It is therefore advisable (even in summer!) to dress warmly for the roughly 60-minute visit to the Art Shelter.
