Germany plans to turn buildings into bomb shelters

Germany is drawing up a list of public and private buildings that could be converted into bunkers if necessary, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

The list would include car parks, underground train stations, state buildings and private properties.

A phone app with a digital directory of bunkers and emergency shelters was also planned, the spokesperson said, adding that citizens would also be encouraged to convert their own basements and garages into shelters.

Germany’s tabloid BILD first reported the plan on Monday, saying it was a response to a worsening international threat, particularly from Russia.

A ministry spokesperson did not mention a worsening security situation, but said the plan was a big project that would take some time and involve multiple authorities.

Civil protection organisations in Germany have called for the expansion of bomb shelters in the country, which currently has 579 bunkers — most of which date from the Second World War.

The plan was reportedly agreed upon in June and is being looked into by a specially designed force.

Germany’s domestic defence

Germany has increasingly looked into defence at home since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised to beef up the country’s military following the invasion, with a sweep of investments and armaments projects.

Since then, the military has found its budget constrained.

Roderich Kiesewetter, a defence expert and MP from the opposition Christian Democratic Union, recently told the Frankfurter Allgemeine that the military’s budget would need to triple to properly address current needs and threats.

This month, local media reported on “Operation Plan Germany” — a classified document detailing how Germany could support the deployment of thousands of NATO troops to Ukraine in the event of escalating nuclear threats from Russia.

In October, a group of German intelligence officials warned the parliament that Russia would have the capacity to carry out an attack against NATO by the end of the decade.