Over 700 years old vaults! An almost forgotten world!
The origin of this underground vault system dates back to the 13th century. The cellar vaults in the Tiefer Keller quarter have survived fires, economic and cultural rise and fall of the city, and even the area demolition of the old town in socialist times. Thus, they belong to the oldest buildings in the city.

The cellars are evidence of the rich trading town of Merseburg from the Romanesque period to the late Baroque. They tell us about a storage economy that had to keep large quantities of a wide variety of goods cool. The owners had the wine and beer cellars decorated with ornate initials carved into the sandstone door arches, some of which are still preserved today. Flat staircases facilitated the transport of loads. Four different altitudes ensured different temperatures and degrees of humidity.

The extensive vaulted cellars were built to store natural resources. The ice from the Saale was cut in winter and brought into the cellars, where it provided ideal storage temperatures all year round. In addition to domestic goods such as fish, meat and beer, supraregional goods such as oil could also be stored here. In the course of time, the facilities were extended further and further and dug deeper into the ground. Thus, interestingly, the youngest cellars are located at the bottom, but the oldest at the top.

For goods to be transported over long distances, cooling storage facilities were also the basis for constant economic relations in medieval times. Spoiled goods would have interrupted, if not ended, these. Situated on the Via Regia, the prosperous city of Merseburg has been an important goods transshipment point just outside the gates of the city of Leipzig for many centuries. One senses this importance with every step through these once luxurious cold storage chambers in the labyrinth beneath the city.

For years, the Merseburg Art Association has been committed to the preservation, expansion and development of the extensive area. At present, it is thus possible to visit the cellars with widths between 2 and 6 meters on a total length of over 300 meters as part of a guided tour. The highest vaults are up to 2.70 meters high. When the vaults were uncovered, another special feature came to light - a well in the middle of the cellar.

In the future, art exhibitions will fill the deep cellars with new life. A skilfully drawn bow between history and modernity that will make your visit an unforgettable experience.