Czech Republic nuclear bunker turns Cold War museum
Shortly to be added to the list of Europe's most unusual tourist destinations, you too will soon be able to experience some of that Cold War chill in this nuclear bunker in the Czech Republic.
Misov, some 60 kilometres from the German border, got its underground complex in the Khrushchev years, and now it is a museum to the folly of mutually assured destruction.
There were only twelve locations in Eastern Europe and the only one that still exists for future generations to remember is this depot in
Misov, said Iron Curtain Foundation Chairman, Vaclav Vitovec.
Once one of the most secret places in the Soviet world, once upon a time it could have sheltered 80 nuclear warheads. There were two others like it in the Czech Republic, but this is the only intact one left.
We knew that there was some base, army barracks, near here, but almost no-one suspected there were nuclear warheads here.
Everyone knew there were some overnight flights but I think that even
our top representatives didn't know what it was. explained Misov resident Milos France.
Since the fall of Communism the bunker has been used to store obsolete banknotes, and the bodies of German World War Two soldiers awaiting repatriation.
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Nuclear Bunker in Prague, Czech Republic
Communism and Nuclear Bunker walk Tour in Prague, Czech Republic.
A visit to a real nuclear bunker from the 1950s which is hidden almost 5 floors deep with cold war time expositions.
It could shelter up to 5,000 persons in case of a Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Attack.
Don't miss also a visit to a Soviet Nuclear Missile Base - Cold War Museum - in Lithuania.
Museum of the Cold War at Prague Hotel Jalta
From the 1950s until 1989, the five-star boutique Hotel Jalta, recognized by UNESCO, harbored a big secret: About 20 meters under the hotel, there was an anti-nuclear bunker spread over three floors. Built from 1954 to 1958 to hold 150 people, the bunker was slated to provide shelter for prominent officials and distinguished officers for as long as two months if war broke out. The Military of Defence owned the bunker until it was declassified in 1997. Now it is the property of the hotel and has been turned into a museum with displays focusing on the Cold War.
The Hotel Jalta, an example of socialist architecture, was erected from 1954 to 1958 on the site of a residential building that had been bombed by Allied Forces at the end of the war. The structure was commissioned by then Czechoslovak President Antonin Zapotocky, who helped plan the project. The underground rooms were never used as an anti-nuclear bunker because no war erupted, but their history is intriguing. The Secret Police occupied the vast space for four decades. They created a listening post to eavesdrop on the hotel’s guests, who were predominantly from Western countries, as well as on the hotel’s employees. When Western Germany’s embassy was situated on the premises in the 1970s, the Secret Police tapped their phones and bugged their offices, too. Bugs in the hotel rooms were creatively placed. For example, they could be found on shoe brushes. People who worked at the hotel were not allowed to enter the underground rooms.
The bunker was well-equipped with an operating room in which 15 doctors could work at the same time, though this part of the structure is not currently open to the public. It also had its own power and water supply that included a special cistern that could hold up to 53 cubic liters of water. The concrete walls were two meters thick with a steel slab to protect against external sources of radiation. Two emergency exits led to Wenceslas Square and an adjacent building.
Now several underground rooms have been turned into the Museum of the Cold War, where visitors are greeted by their guide, a man dressed in the uniform of a Czechoslovak army officer during the 1980s. The curious can see the listening devices of the Secret Police and the facilities of the bunker. The workings of a large switchboard used to eavesdrop on conversations are explained in detail. A telex is on display, too. Visitors will also see gas masks, Communist era newspapers, numerous border control officers’ uniforms and a 1950s-era machine gun that they can actually hold. A mannequin dressed as a border control official during the 1950s appears to be inspecting a guest’s suitcase containing jewellery that was smuggled into Czechoslovakia.
The beginning of the exhibition displays Communist propaganda about former Czechoslovakia throughout the former country’s dark decades. Communist presidents have their own places in the exhibition: A red socialist banner features Zapotocky, the country’s leader during the Stalinist 1950s, while other portraits show Klement Gottwald and Gustav Husak. Gottwald, the first Communist president of Czechoslovakia and a prominent player in the Communist Coup of February 1948, initiated a series of purges against non Communists as well as Communists. Husak represented the former country during the harsh normalization period following the Soviet invasion that destroyed the liberal reforms of the 1968 Prague Spring. Under his firm grip for two decades, Czechoslovakia remained loyal to the Russians. Copies of totalitarian posters on one wall announce the 15th anniversary of the Pioneers, a Soviet-style Czechoslovak youth organization, for example. Porcelain is decorated with the Secret Police logo. The history of the hotel is well documented, too. The exhibition allows the public not only to become familiar with the use of the underground bunker during the totalitarian era but also to gain insight into the era of the Cold War itself.
The museum’s opening times alternate between Mondays and Wednesdays and Tuesdays and Thursdays, always from 5 pm to 8 pm. A maximum of seven people can go on the 30-minute tour that costs 75 Czech crowns. Tours are in Czech. English speakers are given a text which describes all the exhibits. It is necessary to book a tour in advance but well worth it.
However, don’t go down the tunnel it is muddy!
Inside a Cold War Nuclear Bunker in Prague
Join me as I head to the Communism Museum in Prague and then onto a nuclear blast proof bunker hidden underground in the suburbs of the city.
The former Czechoslovakia became a communist country in 1948 and endured over 40 years of communist rule. During that time a number of Cold War bunkers were built in preparation for a nuclear attack from the west. Prague was close to the Iron Curtain so an attack on the city was deemed likely, and to put people's minds at rest they built these bunkers as a refuge for civilians if the worst was to happen.
Thankfully they were never needed. These days they are used for alternative purposes - nightclubs, storage units, and museums that serve as a reminder of the communist period.
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Cold War surveillance bunker opens as a museum
A new museum far below the city streets of Prague has shone a light on the once secret surveillance activities of the Czech government.
The museum is situated in a 500 square metre (5,400 square feet) underground bunker below the Jalta Hotel in the Czech Republic's capital.
It includes an original underground escape tunnel, and a room full of surveillance equipment as well as displays showcasing Cold War memorabilia.
The bunker was built with steel reinforced concrete walls two metres (6.5 feet) thick in order to provide Communist Party members and Warsaw Pact military officials a shelter in the case of a nuclear attack.
When not used as a shelter, the bunker provided a base for communist intelligence services to spy on guests in the hotel above. Guests at the hotel included foreign officials, diplomats and journalists.
Secret police colour coded the rooms based on the importance of the guest. Highly valued intelligence targets were labelled red, while low valued targets were labelled green.
The most unique thing is that this was actually here and that they were eavesdropping on all of the hotel rooms, said Sandra Zoukalova, marketing manager for the Jalta Hotel.
Not many people knew about it, and as people are learning out about this it surprises them, she added.
The bunker was kept a secret for years until the military released the space to the hotel in 1998.
It had sat unused until last month, when the hotel opened it as a museum.
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Czech War Museum Prague visit May 2015 WW I
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Museum Night in Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC
For 14 consecutive years, Prague has had a Museum Night. On this night, all the museums in Prague are free and a wonderful bus service runs between all the city museums.
The buses are free and run from 7pm to 1 am. Again, free of charge.
We started in Vysehrad, the old capitol point of Prague before the Prague Castle was built.
From there we walked to the Museum of Police, which was quite interesting. It had weapons from different times periods including World War 2 and spy gadgetry from the Cold War. We spent about an hour there.
Overall, if you are here next year, make sure to take advantage of all things free on Museum Night.
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PRAGUE FALLOUT SHELTER ( cold war secret atomic bunker )
PRAGUE
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Abris secret antiatomique de la guerre froide
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au programme espionnage et survivre à une guerre atomique : la guerre froide...
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A unique trial of a human spirit wanting to break free that begins in a small town Litomysl, Czech Republic.
Have a look at my unique, self made escape pulley, on which in July of 86, I ziplined over the Iron Curtain and a militarized border zone from Communism to freedom.
I did that with a friend, on a 380 kV power line, during a torrential downpour, on the power line that comes out of a nuclear power plant called Dukovany, from Czech Republic, formerly known as Czechoslovakia into Austria.
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Prague, Czech Republic #22 National Museum
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My name is David Hoffmann and for the last decade I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food and history! Since starting Davidsbeenhere in 2008, I have traveled to 71 countries and over 1,000 destinations, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube Channel, blog and social medias.
I focus a great deal on food and historic sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, whether it’s casual Street food or gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning the local history and culture.
Prague, Czech Republic #22 National Museum
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