A storage gallery blessed by St. Barbara

摘要

Nothing betrays the existence of the unique treasure of German intellectual life that is buried deep in the ground, hidden in the middle of a forest in southern Germany. The white-blue sign behind the barred door is inconspicuous, with nothing to indicate that cultural goods are kept under special protection here. The visitor almost feels as though he has entered the Kyffhaeuser, the maze of caves in which the Emperor Barbarossa resides, waiting to return. In reality, the visitor has entered the Barbara underground shelter in Oberried, near Freiburg. The facility is no less than the "central storage place of the Federal Republic of Germany."