While the large vaulted cellar is located beneath the main house, a series of three more recent cellars can be found under the east wing.
These days, the first cellar houses the toilets. It dates back to when Wunderlich's successor, Lucas Faesch, owned the mansion. In the early 19th century, he added an east wing at right angles to the main house and built a cellar underneath it, creating this room and the next one.
Before the refurbishment, the cellars only had a rammed earth floor and were used to store coal, oil and all kinds of junk. Only a few years have gone by since they were made safe to enter after a high-quality tiled floor was laid in here.
As it happens, old toilet doors from the west wing were recycled for use in the facilities here. Apparently some tenants, including a family called Bollmüller, had reserved one of the outside toilets for themselves.
Now, as you move on into the next cellar, look out for the unusual transition. The doorway isn’t in the centre; instead, it’s been moved over into the left-hand corner – possibly in order to open up storage space on the wall to the right.
All depictions: © Palais Wunderlich
