Hidden beneath a quiet residential street in the Cond district of Cochem, this 1,500-square-metre bunker was built between 1962 and 1964 to hold West Germany's emergency currency supply. For 26 years, the Deutsche Bundesbank stored up to 15 billion marks here in secret — enough to stabilise the economy after a nuclear exchange or currency collapse. The notes, known as BBK II, were denominations of 10, 20, 50, and 100 marks, printed and sealed and never circulated.
The bunker sits roughly 30 metres underground and was reached via a training centre that served as camouflage. Guided tours run regularly since the site opened to the public in 2016, and they take you through the vault rooms, communications equipment, and original fittings. The experience is quietly surreal — an extraordinary piece of Cold War infrastructure tucked inside an ordinary Mosel wine town.