The Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) and the German Interior Ministry plan to reintroduce public bunkers and a shelter location app amid rising global tensions.

Germany announces plans for shelter location app

Germany will reintroduce public bunkers and an app for locals to locate their nearest shelter amid increasingly fraught international relations.

Speaking at a press conference a spokesperson from the BKK said that key elements of the plan had already been agreed upon in June 2024, but the project would take “some time” before any app is launched.

Down from 2.000, 579 World War Two and Cold War-era bunkers remain in Germany. These could provide shelter for 480.000 of Germany’s 84 million population. 

New shelter locations may include underground car parks and U-Bahn stations. Residents would also be asked to convert their basements and garages into shelters. According to the BKK, Germany’s high building standards mean basements would be adequate to protect residents against explosions or falling debris.

While Germany’s shelter maintenance programme was abandoned in 2007, most residents in neighbouring Switzerland still have access to nuclear fallout bunkers in their basements. Additionally, around 360.000 communal bunkers are operational in Switzerland today, meaning all residents have a place to shelter. In an emergency, the location of communal shelters is shared with residents via the AlertSwiss app on their mobile phones.

Growing concern over Russian capabilities to attack NATO countries

The BKK announcement comes amid escalations in Ukraine and growing concerns from German intelligence officials that Russia could be capable of launching a military attack on NATO alliance countries by 2030.

The German Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst) warned that the country is already seeing an uptick in spying and sabotage activities which are suspected to have originated in Russia.

Recent cases include damage to fibre optic data communications cables in the Baltic Sea over the weekend of November 15 and 16. The German and Polish governments have suggested that Russia is responsible for the sabotage, which the Kremlin has denied. 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has also suggested that the DHL plane which departed Leipzig on the morning of November 25 and crashed in Vilnius, Lithuania, may have been a “hybrid incident” involving Russian sabotage.

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