Government bunker (Germany)
The Government Bunker (Regierungsbunker) in Germany, officially named Ausweichsitz der Verfassungsorgane des Bundes im Krisen- und Verteidigungsfall zur Wahrung von deren Funktionstüchtigkeit (AdVB), in English: "Emergency Seat of the Federal Constitutional Organs for the State of Crisis or State of Defence to Maintain their Ability to Function" was a massive underground complex built during the Cold War era to house the German government, parliament and enough federal personnel needed to keep the government working in the event of war or severe crisis.
After the war, during years of recession, the German state railway company lost interest in the line which was of no economic value and finally abandoned it.
After some deliberations the two tunnels were selected as the site for such an installation due to their proximity to Bonn and the rural surroundings which, unlike urban areas, would not attract air raids or missile attacks.
Additional tunnels of a total length of 17.3 km were driven and blasted into the soft slate mountains along the Ahr Valley to build an emergency seat for the federal government that would allow up 3,000 people to survive an attack for at least 30 days.
The facility was designed to withstand attacks with nuclear weapons and was fitted with autonomous supplies of electric power, fresh air and drinking water.
The bunker built beneath 110m of slate rock consisted of two sections named Ost (East) and West which were separated by a valley and connected by a 60m deep passageway.
In the event of a nuclear attack it would have been possible to continue governing and lead the West German Armed Forces from inside the bunker.
In its final capacity the bunker would have accommodated up to 3,000 people of which all but the federal president and chancellor would have slept in multi-bed dormitories fitted with only very basic furniture.
Such exercises, for instance, involved the passing of bills by an emergency parliament of 22 members, including a mock chancellor and president.
Secret surveys conducted as early as 1962 had found that 250-times more powerful weapons were to be expected and it had been made clear that the bunker would collapse if ever hit by a nuclear bomb.
In 1997, following the decision to move the capital and government seat of re-unified Germany to Berlin, it was decided to abandon the bunker as no concept for civilian use could be found.
The Dokumentationsstätte Regierungsbunker museum (Government Bunker Documentation Site) features a cinema, the entrance to former section 1 (Ost/Ost) and 203 metres (666 ft) of tunnel more or less in its original condition.
