Kurfürstendamm Nuclear Bunker

Tucked away under the carpark staircase of a  shopping centre in the centre of Berlin, is a nuclear bunker which could house 3592 people for 2 weeks in the event of a nuclear fallout. The Kurfürstendamm bunker is now part of the museum The Story of Berlin, which is also worth a visit in its own right, starting from the city's foundations in 1237 when it was a village on the River Spree and ventures all through Berlins past, from Prussian to WWII the Cold War and beyond. ....

During the cold war and with the West Berlin being a small island in "The East" the government's had an obvious concern for the welfare of its Citizens in the event of a nuclear war. In total 19 such bunkers were built under the streets of West Berlin!

When the construction of the Ku’Damm Karree shopping centre began in 1973 it seemed an ideal location to place a bunker. The construction was completed and many never knew about the extra floor below the car park!

You enter the bunker through big curved mental doors which were supposed to allow a set number of people in and allow closure without detaching limbs! The number to be let in at one time through each door was 50 as you needed to shower to allow any contaminants to be washed off. The first thing you notice upon entering the main bunker is that all the lights are blue, this was thought at the time of the bunkers construction to aid health and prevent illness! The bunks are tight to each other and stack 4 high, when you look up there are circles in the ceiling which are to show where extra poles can be placed for more bunks as the bunker fills up with people.

Looking at the toilets you realise that there are no doors .... This is because in times of great distress it was noted that if people want to commit suicide they will do it when they are alone and there are not many chances to be alone locked underground with another 3 and a half thousand people!

As well as the main area in the bunker there is a treatment room, where minor bumps and grazes, coughs etc can be examined, a sick room with bunks in it which quite disturbingly at one end has a sealed area for bodies of those who didn't make it. Telecoms and communication equipment were kept in the Supervisors room to ensure that it wasn't misused.

There was a kitchen but this was surprisingly small, the builders of the bunkers theorised with the amount of people underground and the continual short supply of air and the heat (the temp would be near tropical) that most people would sleep for 90-95% of the time, leaving very little time for eating, so all that was provided was minimum tinned rations. Water would be freely available.

The air was kept clean by scrubbers that only had the capacity to work for 14 days .... but this was ok as the engines that powered the generators could only last that long anyway! I am not sure that in event of a nuclear War I would want to be cooped up with three and a half thousand other people in a confined space under blue light, with air so minimal that you could hardly breathe and so hot you didn't want to move, but I suppose if a nuclear attack was to happen what are the alternatives!

Kurfürstendamm Nuclear Bunker Tour Gallery