Welcome to the Bavarian Millitary Community2021/2022

44 Welcome to the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr. A lot of visitors describe Schwandorf as a modern and vivid town whose history dates back more than a thousand years. With its historical town centre and the various attractions (e.g. The Rock Caves), Schwandorf has a lot to offer – for guests and inhabitants. The local tourist information offers a great number of different guided (hiking) tours around the city that will show you the old tower, some impres- sive churches or tell you the story of the most famous inhabitant of Schwandorf, Konrad Max Kunz, who composed the Bavarian anthem. A very popular meeting point is the market place which is surrounded by several cafés and restaurants. Furthermore, Schwandorf is located in the most water-rich area of eastern Bavaria. Several lakes and rivers invite you to spend your leisure in a unique surrounding with natural beaches and different sport facilities like waterski, standup paddling etc. A Short History Of The Rock Cellars (Felsenkeller) Of Schwandorf At the end of the 15th century a new method of brewing beer, called “lower” or “cold” fermentation, came into use. But this innovative way of brewing required a special temperature for fermenting, which mustn’t rise over 10°C. And this was the reason why wherever they practiced this kind of fermentation, they had to carve rock cellars to get these low degrees deep underground. In Schwandorf the fi rst ones were built around the year 1500. They have a consistent temperature of 8°C throughout the whole year and so were excellently suitable for fermenting and storing beer. At least till the end of the 19th century the brewers had built more than 130 caverns in the city. During World War II they were used as air-raid bunkers and when Schwandorf was bombed and destroyed to almost 75 % in April 1945, more than six thousand people sought shelter in the rock cellars. After the war nobody needed rock cellars anymore, so almost each cavern was misused for disposing waste. But in 1999 the administration of the city decided to bring them back to life by restoring 60 caverns and so created Bavaria’s largest “Felsenkeller-Laby- rinth”. Nowadays it’s the most popular sight of Schwandorf and the whole ensemble is listed as a protected historical monument. Schwandorf A lot of visitors describe Schwandorf as a modern and vivid town whose his- tory dates back more than a thousand years. With its historical town centre and the various attractions (e.g. The Rock Caves), Schwandorf has a lot to offer – for guests and inhabitants. The local tourist information offers a great number of different guided (hiking) tours around the city that will show you the old tower, some impressive churches or tell you the story of the most famous inhabitant of Schwandorf, Konrad Max Kunz, who composed the Bavarian anthem. A very popular meeting point is the market place which is surrounded by several cafés and restaurants. Furthermore, Schwandorf is located in the most water-rich area of eastern Bavaria. Several lakes and rivers invite you to spend your leisure in a unique surrounding with natural beaches and different sport facilities like waterski, standup paddling etc. A Short History Of The Rock Cellars (Felsenkeller) Of Schwandorf At the end of the 15th century a new method of brewing beer, called “lower” or “cold” fermentation, came into use. But this innovative way of brewing required a special temperature for fer- menting, which mustn’t rise over 10°C. And this was the reason why wherever they practiced this kind of fermentation, they had to carve rock cellars to get these low degrees deep underground. In Schwandorf the first ones were built around the year 1500. They have a con- sistent temperature of 8°C throughout the whole year and so were excellently suitable for fermenting and storing beer. At least till the end of the 19th century the brewers had built more than 130 caverns in the city. During World War II they were used as air-raid bunkers and when Schwandorf was bombed and destroyed to almost 75 % in April 1945, more than six thousand people sought shelter in the rock cellars. After the war nobody needed rock cellars anymore, so almost each cavern was misused for disposing waste. But in 1999 the administration of the city decided to bring them back to life by restoring 60 caverns and so created Bavaria’s largest “Felsenkeller-Labyrinth”. Nowadays it’s the most popular sight of Schwandorf and the whole ensemble is listed as a protected historical monument. Schwandorf