There are more than 700 underground Civil Defense shelters spread all around Prague. Most of them were built during the Cold War, that is, in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Their purpose was protecting the general population against any potential nuclear, biological or chemical attacks. Although by the standards of the modern warfare these shelters are outdated, it is required by law that they still be maintained. All these shelters taken together can take in approx. 150 thousand people. Together with the Prague’s Metro system and the Strahov tunnel, the Civil Defense system provides the total capacity of about half a million – less than a half of Prague’s population.
The biggest Prague’s shelter – Bezovka – is located in Prague 3 and has the capacity to provide a refuge to more than 2000 people. But as this bunker is not open to the public regularly, we are going to visit another bunker, located near the Nuselsky bridge in Prague 2.

The bunker is located under the Folimanka park

The bunker is called Folimanka, and it is one of the biggest bunkers of its kind in Prague. Before the coronavirus pandemic, it was open to the public once a month, always on Saturday. Once the normal service resumes, the exact dates of the tours will be published on the official website . The entrance is free. The tours have been organized by a group of officials working for the Prague 2’s district office. Most of the area of the bunker is accessible to the public, the tour is unguided.

One of the smaller tunnels in the Folimanka bunker

The bunker houses a number of small exhibitions related to wars and shelters. Upon the entrance you will be greeted by a sight of unexploded and defused WWII bomb, dropped by the US Air Force during the 1945 air raids in the North of the Czech Republic.

500 LB General Purpose AN-M43 WWII bomb

Construction of the bunker started in the second half of the Fifties. According to the documents, the bunker had been completed by 1962. Cost of the construction was 5 912 240 Czechoslovak Crowns, which in today’s money is about 77.5 million CZK (3.4 million USD/3 million EUR). The army was in charge of the bunker until 1994, and the shelter was listed as SECRET. Needless to say, it was inaccessible to the public. In 2014, at the initiative of the Prague 2’s district office, the shelter has been made accessible to visitors.

One of the tunnels of Folimanka bunker

Total area of the bunker is 1 332 square meters. The bunker is designed for 1300 people. In case of emergency, with the bunker being full, each person would have only 0.8 square meters to themselves. Most people would be sitting on the benches along the corridors of the bunker, hearing an immense roar of the ventilation system. The bunker is designed to provide shelter for 72 hours.

In case of emergency, benches would be placed along these tunnels, where 1300 people would sit

Ventilation system of the bunker is vast. The are three air filtration and ventilation units, each capable of processing up to 1000 cubic meters of air per hour. The filters consume dust and major air pollutants, but also certain combat substances. In case of the electrical cutout, each of the units can be powered manually by two people, substituted every 15 minutes.

Air ventilation chamber

Air ventilation units can be powered manually

Air filter

Part of air filtration system

Boxes with air filters

The bunker can be made fully airtight. The filters contain lime, which consumes carbon dioxide. Also, pressure bottles with oxygen can be connected to the ventilation system to restore the oxygen level to 21%.

This is where the oxygen pressure bottles can be connected to the air supply system

There is a number of emergency escapes from the bunker, as well as observation points, from which it is possible to evaluate the situation on the surface.

Ladder to an observation platform

One of the emergency exits

There are two toilets, one for women and one for men. Also there are showers, which would’ve been used by those who would’ve arrived into the bunker after the attack. They would've had to go through the process of decontamination before they would’ve been able to join the rest.

Ladies' room

Showers

Among other facilities in the shelter there are two morgues with the capacity of 10 bodies each, and a cable telephone switchboard room – now defunct, as the communication with the outside world can be done through radio.

Telephone switchboard room

In case of emergency, the bunker has got a generator powered by a three valve Skoda diesel engine (produced in 1955) which produces 32 kW. Enough to maintain the ventilation system, as well as water pumps and the lights.

Generator powered by 1955 Skoda engine

All in all, a visit to the bunker is an interesting, yet at the same time a rather gloomy experience. Had the Cold War escalated, the scenario in which the bunker would have served its purpose would have probably occurred. It is rather obvious, that while the bunker might have saved about 1300 people, it would’ve been a scene of misery and utter despair. Even though the bunker is still ready for being used as a shelter today, hopefully, there will never be a need for that and it will continue serving as a Cold War museum.