Impressions from an abandoned WWII Tunnel in Vienna

Beneath Vienna's inner-city districts lies a hidden world of lost places. These forgotten cellars and tunnels, some dating back centuries, served as air-raid shelters during World War II. Last year, I joined a guided tour of Vienna's underground, and recently, I had the opportunity to do it again. Together with tour guide Jerryously I visited two abandoned tunnels about 30 feet below the surface.

Table of Contents

• Know before you go
  • Who is Jerry "Jerryously"?
  • Can I visit the Vienna underground tunnels on my own?
• Things to see during a lost place tour below Vienna
• How I took the photos in the abandoned tunnel
• The verdict: Should you take a walking tour through the Vienna underground with Jerryously?

Know before you go

Who is Jerry "Jerryously"?

Jerry "Jerryously" is a notable urban explorer from Vienna, Austria, and he leads guided walking tours, making Vienna's hidden and forgotten tunnels accessible to the public. If you're interested in learning more about Jerryously and his tours, his homepage is linked at the end of the post.

How long does a tour last?

Jerry "Jerryously" is a notable urban explorer from Vienna, Austria, and he leads guided walking tours, making Vienna's hidden and forgotten tunnels accessible to the public. If you're interested in learning more about Jerryously and his tours, his homepage is linked at the end of the post.

Can I visit the Vienna underground tunnels on my own?

Well, that depends. If you know someone owning a house with an entrance to such a lost place, then the answer is probably yes. However, be advised that these tunnels were abandoned after the second world war. Some were filled with debris and some are partially collapsed. As these places are several feet below the ground, no one will hear you scream, and you can’t even use your cell phone to call for help. So my advice is not to explore them on your own, but rather join a guided tour.

Things to see during an abandoned tunnel tour below Vienna

Jerryously started the underground walking tour in a multi-story abandoned ice cellar in the first district, built in the 18th century. As Jerryously is a well-educated guide, he always proves his claims. In this case, he highlighted a large brick at the top of the cellar, which clearly stated that it was built in 1744.

In the second room of this abandoned cellar, we could explore a few relicts from the past decades, like this old box with books.

Additionally, we found a few love letters from an alleged prisoner and a few files which looked like they were from a law firm.

Then we walked through a huge room which may have been used as a storage room before World War II. Thanks to my new flashlight, which I bought for exactly such abandoned places, I could fully illuminate the room and take a photo.

In the next room, I discovered a few pages of an old newspaper on the floor - unfortunately, all without a date. But with a little bit of research in a newspaper archive, I was able to date the newspaper page to either January or February 1951 - so a few years after the second world war ended.

In case you’re curious, how I discovered the date of the old newspaper: it announces a famous magician named Ralf Bialla for February in a well-known venue in Vienna, the Moulin Rouge. So I just had to search the newsletter archive for the name and the venue and was able to find an article. As validation, I checked the cinema programme on the left. None of the mentioned movies were released earlier than January 1951.

Next, we went up to the surface again and headed to another lost place below the first district in Vienna. Another abandoned cellar that looked like it once belonged to a bakery. And in the next photo you can clearly see why: There’s an old and lost scale along with some remains of pages of a recipe book.

But for the last stop, it got really dusty: We had to crawl into the next room on all fours. The cellar was full of debris from World War II!

How I took the photos in the abandoned tunnel

During this tour, I used my Wuben X1 flashlight that emits a whooping 12.000 lumens. As you can see from the pictures, that is enough to brighten an entire room, which would otherwise be total dark. To learn why I bought this tactical flashlight, head to my Wuben X1 review.

If I explore a lost place on my own, For larger rooms I may also use a technique I described in the blog post about how to take photos in total darkness with iPhone.

As always, I used the already reviewed ProCamera App and, of course, I shot them in Apple’s ProRAW format.

Should you take a walking tour through the Vienna underground with Jerryously?

The short answer is yes. Jerryously is a well-educated tour guide and can tell you a lot about the history of the abandoned tunnels below Vienna’s surface. After you’ve learned about the history, you’ll have enough time to explore the lost place on your own. To book a tour, visit Jerryously’s homepage (in German).