There are no more bunkers in Germany. One of the few still in place is in Berlin and it has become a museum. And when the heavy metal door slammed shut, there was silence. This bunker-museum could house 2,000 Berliners in case of danger. Sascha Keil, a reserve officer, leads us through the maze of the Brunnenstrasse bunker in the north of Berlin, visited that day by a group of young American tourists. “Before the freezing of this type of equipment in 2007, we had 23 bunkers in Berlinsays Sascha Keil. At no time after World War II did we have enough to house more than 1% of the population. A few thousand places, for a population of more than 3.5 million inhabitants.
The problem also arises for the sirens because it is not much better. All over Germany, the sirens have been dismantled or no longer work. With the invasion of Ukraine, Berlin released funds for the installation of 5,000 sirens in the country and recommended that the inhabitants stock up on food, just in case.
At the end of May 2022, only 8% of Germans said they were ready to face a critical situation. Some are even frankly anxious. The BSSD company, in Berlin, installs more than a hundred private bunkers each year, in private homes. “Before the outbreak of the war, we had between 100 and 300 clicks on our web pagesays Mark Schmiechen, spokesperson for BSSD. And clac, on February 25, we started counting more than 10,000 clicks a day. The company spokesperson shows us one of the models: “It’s steel, listen how good it sounds, and the sound of the door closing… Of course, it’s not really for the claustrophobic…”
The private bunker, sold for more than 10,000 euros, is not for all budgets. The most distressed among the Germans therefore have no other solution than to rely on the official recommendations of civil security: put aside enough to last for several days with 11 liters of water per person and tin cans, and a good old battery-powered radio.