Tunnels in the soft limestone of the Weinberg, German for vineyard, were used for storage of ice and beer in the early 19th century. In the late 1930s the German government built air raid shelters in all major cities, and one of them was the Air-raid shelter am Weinberg in Kassel. The shelter was designed for 7500 people. During the war Kassel was targeted several times by large air raids, destroying most of the city. The most severe bombing took place 22/23 October 1943, at that point the bunker was filled with over 10 thousand people. The bunker had a medical section with an emergency room, as well as a military command section with a telecommunications centre.