Against the background of the war in Ukraine and growing threats in Europe, more and more Germans are interested in private shelters and bunkers. Regional authorities are calling for the construction of new protective structures, but experts consider it impractical, reports DW.
Berlin-based BSSD Defense, which builds such facilities for private individuals, businesses and the military, currently has steady demand. In addition to equipment for the security of premises, the company offers a wide range of solutions — from pop-up panic rooms worth about 20,000 euros to full-fledged bunkers that cost ten times more.
Technical director of BSSD, Mario Peyde, noted that the number of orders from private customers, fire services and local councils has been increasing in recent years. The surge in demand began during the COVID-19 pandemic, and after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it increased even more.
“There is a great demand and serious interest in such products, but there are not so many suppliers around. No one could have expected that a conventional war could start again in Europe, but history, unfortunately, repeats itself. People who previously only thought about arranging security in case of war, now began to really implement their plans, explained Mario Peide.
At the conference of Land Ministers of the Interior in Potsdam, held at the beginning of June, the Federal Ministry of the Interior presented a report on the development of the concept of modern shelters for the population of Germany.
The report comes three months after the German Union of Towns and Communities, which brings together 14,000 local councils, called on the government to invest 10 billion euros over 10 years in civil defense and direct the funds to rebuild 2,000 ‘Cold War’ bunkers.
The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Management told DW that only 579 of these bunkers are still formally considered suitable for sheltering civilians and can hold approximately 478,000 people, or 0.56% of Germany’s population. At the same time, even these buildings are “not functioning and not ready for use”, because the civil defense system was neglected back in 2007.
