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Tunneling into the Dolomite Matrix

On arrival

Arrive at Schlossbergplatz 1 and look for the modern glass-and-steel entry pavilion built flush against the shear, vertical rock face of the Schlossberg.

Look closer

Observe the glass pavilion interface where modern steel meets the raw dolomite cliff face. Peer into the unlined elevator shaft to watch the glass cabins ascend 77 metres through raw rock, and walk down the access tunnel into the former air-raid shelter system.

Reveals subterranean spatial intervention, where modern infrastructure carves into fortress heritage following a historic public referendum.

At Schlossbergplatz 1, high-tech movement systems cut straight into ancient rock. Designed by Reiner Schmid, constructed between 1999 and 2000, and opened in May 2000, this facility features two panoramic glass elevator cabins traveling 77 metres vertically inside an unlined rock shaft excavated out of 5,000 cubic metres of dolomite mountain beneath the medieval Clock Tower (Uhrturm). An access tunnel leads into the Dom im Berg, a 688-square-metre underground event hall constructed inside expanded World War II air-raid shelters (Schlossbergstollen). Crucially, the Dom im Berg is the sole executed component of a larger 1990s scheme by Swiss firm Weber Hofer Partner to put the entire Kunsthaus inside the mountain, which Graz voters turned down in a 1998 referendum.

Accessibility at this stop

Two panoramic glass elevators descend/ascend vertically 77 metres within the rock shaft, and an access tunnel leads to Dom im Berg. Door dimensions, cabin turn space, and tunnel floor gradients are unrecorded.

These notes describe known conditions at this stop. Urban conditions can change, so assess the situation on site.

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