The forgotten underground world of Swiss bunkers

The Swiss city of Lucerne was once home to the biggest civilian bunker in the world. Built to shelter 20,000 people in the case of a nuclear attack, it’s still primed for possible catastrophe. Tucked in among blocks of flats, an unassuming door set in a wall of concrete peeks out from beneath a grassy mound next to a children’s playground. Behind this door stands 40 years of history, and a buried seven-storey building. Zora Schelbert, my guide inside the bunker, pushes open the heavy door, and it slams  behind us. It’s cold, and a long grey tunnel opens up in front, slowly sloping downwards. It was the largest civilian shelter in the world at the time – opened in 1976 it was designed to keep 20,000 people safe in case of an atomic bomb.  Switzerland has had a unique ‘shelters for all’ policy since 1963, at the height of the Cold War. Every person in the country must have a spot in a bunker in case of some kind of catastrophe. Bunkers either have to be built ...