Berliner Unterwelten
Subways and Bunkers in the Cold War Tour
Brunnenstrasse 105
13355 Berlin
www.berliner-unterwelten.de

"Berlin From Below" - Tours Exploring Berlin's Underworlds - Subways and Bunkers in the Cold War Tour

Berliner Unterwelten offers fascinating tours utilizing the still standing remnants of history frequently left over in Berlin. Tour guides are wonderfully knowledgeable about the subject and surrounding history especially as it pertains to the area, giving visitors an unusual picture of how modern Berlin is still heavily connected to its turbulent past.

Subways and Bunkers in the Cold War takes a decidedly political and hypothetical view exploring the bunker system that was put into place during the period of fear surrounding the trigger happy missile mania of the Cold War superpowers. The bunkers were meant to preserve society during the use and aftereffects of nuclear weapons if World War III had occurred, and to equip survivors for reentry into this post apocalyptic world when the dust settled, as it were. The tour gives many illustrations of what people had to deal with during the Cold War, such as preparations for a fast and devastating nuclear attack from confused and overwhelmed world leaders dealing with potentially faulty technology.

Some of the initial history leading up to the Cold War is discussed with the aid of maps, propaganda, and artifacts in an air raid shelter from the 1980s. The tour then continues to the Pankstrasse U-Bahn station, which was built and prepared for use by civilians in the event of all out nuclear war. The sights and information are completely unbelievably and yet everything but the actual war happened; these really were extensive preparations that took place. The survival plans and potentials outlined during the tour paint a pretty bleak picture of what awaited any survivors of Cold War Berlin.

The office for purchasing tickets and the meeting point for the tour's start is next to the Gesundbrunnen S- and U-Bahn and regional train station on Brunnenstrasse, across from Humboldthain Park. The Berliner Unterwelten website offers a detailed scheduling calendar showing exactly when each tour is conducted in English, and the selection is extensive.