
Reactivation of bunkers and shelters
In the Federal Republic of Germany, there are still a large number of shelters and bunkers built during the Cold War. Most of these protective structures have been forgotten over the years and were usually neither serviced nor maintained for decades.
With targeted measures, we can reactivate existing protective structures and make them ready for use.

Civil defense bunkers and shelter buildings
Task and use of bunker buildings
The majority of German civil defence bunkers and shelters were built during the Cold War. These protective structures were primarily built to protect against armed conflicts and had to withstand nuclear, biological, chemical and conventional weapons.
When building shelters at that time, a distinction was made between:
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public shelter facilities
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private shelters
In 1997, there were a total of around 2,000 public shelters and around 9,000 private shelters in Germany. These shelters could provide protection for around 3% of the population. From 1997 onwards, the dismantling of the existing shelters began, so that when an inventory was taken in 2022, only 599 public shelters were still available. Not a single one of these civil defence facilities is operational. [ 1 ]
Historical development in Germany
Over the last 25 years, the construction and maintenance of shelters in Germany has been gradually stopped. Below is a brief overview of the political decisions of the past few years
Comparison with neighboring countries
In recent years, structural civil protection has been treated very differently in European countries. Switzerland, Finland and Sweden are at the forefront in terms of existing shelter structures. The Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP) stipulates that a shelter space must be available for every citizen. [ 1 ]
