The BBC recently aired The Travel Show in Switzerland where they visited three different bunkers being used for different uses.
Image credit: BBC News (2023) https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001j5vm/the-travel-show-switzerland-bunkers-balloons-and-boogies
In Switzerland, every resident must have access to a bunker, either in their own home or a public shelter within at least a 30-minute walk from their homes. They are mandatory in large homes and residential buildings.
Some old military forts in Switzerland are open for people to explore, sold on, or turned into other purposes such as hotels or high-security data centres. The programme shows that one bunker was sold to an individual who uses the decommissioned shelter to ripen cheese. The previous military shelter was positioned to protect the road in and out of the area, with the entrance hidden in the rock face.
Another example of a bunker in Switzerland is in the cellar of an apartment complex. In the cellar, there is a usable shelter for the residents to use in case of a nuclear, biological, or chemical (NBC) emergency. In the shelter, some residents have started ‘prepping’ by storing food and other supplies in the shelter.
The final example shown on the travel show is a bunker in Lucerne, Switzerland. The Sonnenberg Tunnel was constructed between 1971 and 1976 to be the largest civilian nuclear shelter. At the time, the shelter was designed to house 20,000 people, however, it has now been reduced to 2,000. The bunker is over 7 floors and includes the motorway tunnel itself. The shelter is equipped with all the facilities necessary, including hospital space, a teaching room, and even a small prison. The bunker is easily accessed via the motorway tunnel in an emergency. Since 2008, tourists can visit the Sonnenberg Tunnel and receive guided tours.
The programme reports that people have been genuinely concerned about the threat of nuclear war since the war in Ukraine and have sought out the Sonnenberg tunnel to see if they would be able to go there in the event of an emergency. They also confirm that Swiss residents feel reassurance from the government as they know that they are being kept safe with the ability to access shelters in the event of an NBC disaster.
The Travel Show segment also contained Andair products in the shelters they visited. As the sole UK distributor of Andair products, we also provide these products in any shelters we design and build either in the UK or abroad.
Image credit: BBC News (2023)
If you would like to discuss including a nuclear shelter in your residential or commercial property or are interested in Andair products, please do not hesitate to contact us.
