Germany has launched a census of its bunkers and shelters.
In France, German-era bunkers dating from the Second World War have been rehabilitated or left abandoned.
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While walking along the French coast, particularly in Normandy or Brittany, it is not uncommon to come across vestiges of the Second World War. Some of these remains, such as bunkers, no longer really serve their original functions. In Normandy, a bunker was transformed, for example, into a house. In Dinard, it has become an escape game place and welcomes young and old fans of puzzles of all kinds. Other bunkers, on the other hand, have been completely abandoned. State of play with Karim Bennani in Hello! The Morning TF1 (new window).
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European nations in search of its bunkers
Germany has started an inventory of all its bunkers present on its territory. The German authorities want to be ready in the event of an attack from Russia. The objective of this national inventory is to locate all buildings, not only bunkers, but also cellars, garages, metro stations, which could serve as shelter. A digital directory will then be set up so that Germans can find these famous places using their mobile phones.
Today, Germany has just under 600 public bunkers, mainly dating from the Second World War. These buildings would be capable of accommodating around 500,000 people, a largely insufficient figure for a country of 83 million inhabitants. Other European nations have already anticipated this, like Switzerland (world bunker champion), Poland and Sweden, which are renovating their old bunkers and building new ones.
France is significantly behind
In France, no inventory of bunkers is planned at the moment. And it is also very difficult to assess the number of shelters in France, because many have been modified or rehabilitated. Some have been transformed into houses, others into museums or even a place to… store cheese. Furthermore, destroying a bunker is extremely expensive, which is why most of them are abandoned on the Normandy and Breton coast.
However, according to the company Artemis Protection, manufacturer of fallout shelters, France has around a thousand bunkers, some 600 military and 400 private. Unlike Switzerland which is capable of sheltering 100% of its population, only 4% of the population is shelterable in France. Among the places to take refuge, there are the fourteen shelters located under the Radio France building in Paris, the Parisian catacombs, the bunkers on the Normandy and Breton coast, or even the 250 m² shelter under the Palace of the Élysée and the submarine Le Redoutable in Cherbourg, relieves Free Midday.
Furthermore, since the start of the war in Ukraine, companies specializing in the construction of bunkers and anti-atomic shelters have been overwhelmed with orders. For Mathieu Séranne, director of Artemis Protection, interviewed by France-Info: “There is a strong emotional reaction because no one can predict the outcome of this conflict, and there is a realization that we were not at all prepared for this type of major event.“. As for the bunkers on the coast, two currents are opposed today in France. Those who want to keep the bunkers of the Atlantic Wall as they are as war heritage and those who want to transform them to forget. In short, we are far from the current considerations of our European neighbors and individuals.
