This article shows how a gas-phase deposition technique like atomic layer deposition can be utilized for the preparation of tailor-made, magnetic nanotubes by applying it to different template structures, as nanoporous alumina membranes or arrays of silica columns, respectively. On the one hand, such magnetic nanotubes can lead to new insights in basic physical fundamentals, like transitions in the magnetic reversal mechanisms as a function of the wall thickness or the angle of the applied field. On the other hand, novel magnetic, tubular structures might reveal new applications as ferrofluids in terms of liquid suspension or data storage devices comprised of two bit core-shell structures.