When you walk through the city it is not immediately noticeable, but Amsterdam has 41 nuclear air raid shelters. The bunkers date from the last century when the Soviet Union and America threatened to attack each other with nuclear weapons. Now that there is a nuclear threat from Russia again, we made a round of some of the bunkers from the Cold War in the city that you can still see in the streets.
bunkers – NH News
Exactly 60 years ago today, the so-called Cuban Missile Crisis began, leaving the world holding its breath for possible nuclear attacks. A possible nuclear war has never been so close. There was also that fear in Amsterdam, so nuclear shelters were built in the city. In the 41 bunkers there was room for about 36,000 Amsterdammers. When the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, the cellars were no longer needed, so they can no longer be used as shelter from an atomic attack.
Along the Amsterdam bunkers
Yet you can still see them here and there in the city, even in the old center. For example, you can view one of the bunkers at the Nes. “In principle, this was built for conventional warfare, this was actually for bombing,” says bunker expert Kees van Leeuwen, who takes us for an air raid shelter tour. “In principle, it was only intended for the effects of an atomic bomb and not for a direct attack.”
Even though the bunkers are underground, you can still find remnants above ground at the metro station on Nieuwmarkt. “This is one of the last air raid shelters built in Amsterdam, in the 1970s. It is an air raid shelter made especially for passers-by. So really it is just for the public who didn’t have a house or a place to hide.” .”
Nuclear threat?
From research by I&O Research shows that about half of the Dutch are afraid of nuclear attacks. Van Leeuwen thinks that the threat is not too bad. “Of course there is always a risk, but the chance of real total destruction is very small.”
If you want to take a look at the bunkers of our city yourself, you can do so via a cycling tour that Van Leeuwen has mapped out. You will find the route here.
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