Erdställe im Gasthaus zum Feuchten Eck

Burrows are man-made caves or passages that were created in the course of medieval colonisation over 1000 years ago.

There is no certain knowledge about the purpose of the earth stables, as research in this field is still in its infancy. This leaves all the more room for the imagination when it comes to their extent and purpose. And it certainly belongs to the realm of fantasy that the earth stable here in the house was an underground secret passage to the castles of Prandegg, Ruttenstein, Zellhof or the court tavern. Similarly, opinions that the earth stables were sites of ritual activities - such as the natural caves from the Palaeolithic (Palaeolithic period) in France and Spain - should be treated with great caution. Even less can it be assumed that the burial mounds were dwarf dwellings. The theory that the earth dwellings were built as storage rooms is also useless, as open, freely accessible pits were a much more practical hiding place for burying supplies.
It is highly likely that the earth barns were used as shelters and hiding places, although they were of course also very impractical and uncomfortable: the low temperatures, the darkness, the food problem, the lack of exercise and the lack of sanitary facilities were certainly a challenge for the people. Therefore, the earth barns were at best suitable for enabling the inhabitants to quickly disappear and hide in the event of sudden attacks.