The bunker is designed to house the Danish government, the monarch sits in case of nuclear war
Oplev, Denmark:
Hidden deep in the Rold woods of northern Denmark, a vast top-secret nuclear bunker opens to the public for the first time, shedding light on everyday life during the Cold War.
The underground bunker, where everything remains intact like in a time capsule, became a museum on Monday, amid European fears of a nuclear conflict following the invasion of Ukraine of Russia.
The bunker was built between 1963 and 1968 at the request of NATO, following the Soviet nuclear tests and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Dubbed “Regan West”, it was designed to house the Danish government and the incumbent monarch in the event of a nuclear war.
Museum director Lars Christian Norbach told AFP that hidden under trees, 60 meters (200 feet) below a chalk hill, it is considered the “last bastion” of democracy in Denmark.
Located nearly 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of Copenhagen, the bunker was set up to hold Danish authorities for 30 days.
“The H-bomb completely changed the situation in terms of how you might respond to a nuclear attack,” museum curator and historian Bodil Frandsen told AFP.
“The bunkers you already have can’t withstand the blast from there,” she said. “So you have to do something new.”
She noted that government survival in the event of a nuclear disaster is essential to the nation’s sovereignty.
“As long as you can have a government here that can claim control over at least some parts of the country and you have a government that still originates in Denmark, then Denmark, as a country Sovereign democrats, still exist,” explains Frandsen.
‘Time capsule’
Never used, the bunker was decommissioned in 2003 and was first revealed to the world in 2012.
Walk through the long arched corridors and you’ll find the king’s basic bedroom, cafeteria, government conference room and 60s-style decor in the dimly lit lounge. bright.
“It’s a time box of paper, pencils, everything in its place,” says Norbach.
An exhibition also outlines the main events of the period, with everyday objects on display.
Museum visitors will walk two kilometers (1.2 miles) on a 90-minute tour and still only see about 40 percent of it.
“This is a very important place to show young people… how nervous people really were during the Cold War,” said Frandsen.
And now, rising tensions between Russia and the West have made the subject all too relevant.
Norbach added: “The Cold War has become a reality again and that’s what we’re talking about in the museum.”
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
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