Is Berlin ready for the apocalypse? Politicians debate bunkers plan – The Berliner

Thursday, June 15

Is Berlin ready for the apocalypse? Politicians debate bunkers plan

This week, a Conference of Interior Ministers in Potsdam is debating whether Germany is prepared for the possibility of a large-scale war breaking out in Europe. According to official figures, there are currently 579 public bunkers in Germany, with 478,000 shelters dedicated to civil defence, but they are not functional or ready for use. Berlin does not have a single functional bunker facility. The entire network of bunkers was dismantled after the end of the Cold War.

So, does Berlin really need to invest in preparing its citizens for surviving a looming apocalypse? One company thinks so: BSSD stands for Bunker Schutzraum System Deutschland, a company that sells protective structures on a private basis. Mario Piejde, head of construction at the BSSD, told the Tagesspiegel that the bunkers sold by his company allow the customer “to survive a first strike,” says Mario Piejde, allowing a family to survive self sufficiently for a minimum of “14 days”.

Of course, we have seen such fantasies of self-sufficiency before in the face on a seemingly apocalyptic political situation. The reports in the Tagesspiegel recall a famous article from Time Magazine in 1961, when faced with looming nuclear war a Chicago resident reported his fantasies of self sufficiency: “When I get my shelter finished, I’m going to mount a machine gun at the hatch to keep the neighbors out if the bomb falls. I’m deadly serious about this…. I’ve taken the trouble to provide to save my own family.