“Bunker for sale.” Mr. Müller presents a refuge from the former East German Republic, an exhibit listed on Ebay since July of last year. The advertisement features an oxygen-deprived relic: an old underground military facility built by socialist East Germany near Bad Freienwalde, a small town in Brandenburg. The bunker sits on a plot exceeding 25,000 square meters and is priced at 1,300,000 euros, with the listing noting that the quantity is negotiable.
Yet the listing has not yielded open lines of communication. Inquiries to Mr. Müller go unanswered, leaving prospective buyers unable to confirm whether the offer is legitimate or merely speculative. A separate claim has surfaced regarding Mark Schmiechen and Bunker Schutzraum Systeme Germany, also known as BSSD or Bunkers and Shelter Systems of Germany. A spokesperson for BSSD cautions that alarm over private bunkers in Germany, stirred by the war in Ukraine, has created opportunities for deception and fraud.
“The activity was intense at first, then quieted a bit,” said Mark Schmiechen to a Spanish newspaper. “Earlier, we received five to six calls per hour. Now the inquiries tend to come from people who already understand the market—those building homes or renovating properties.” In the wake of initial wartime panic, private bunkers have emerged as another option amid tensions, inflation, and energy concerns.
public shelters
487,598 people—the stated capacity to be protected by the Federal Republic of Germany in a national emergency such as war or a nuclear or chemical attack. The figure corresponds to about 0.6% of the country’s population, according to recent official data from the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The German state currently maintains 599 bunkers. During the Cold War, the capacity for public protection was greater on both sides of the East–West German border. As the primary arena of military and nuclear tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, German authorities prepared contingency plans that were far more extensive than those seen today.
A private bunker in Germany is visible in promotional imagery from BSSD, illustrating one option among many.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall, successive governments of reunified Germany reduced investment in public shelters, selling, abandoning, or destroying facilities. The rhetoric of “end of history” and the expectation of conventional warfare on European soil helped justify those choices. The current climate of war and uncertainty, shaped by recent events in Ukraine, has altered that outlook.
doomsday trial
In a nuclear scenario, a private bunker is unlikely to guarantee long-term survival for a family. Still, individuals may be driven to build shelter spaces within homes for practical reasons. “Imagine a power outage coupled with looting—situations that have occurred in past conflicts. A shelter can offer a retreat for a family, a place to secure important documents, and a space to endure for hours or even days,” notes Schmiechen. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the energy crisis has heightened interest in personal protection for those with the means to invest.
BSSD’s offerings span a wide range: a steel container suitable for apartment installation at about 11,000 euros, to a reinforced concrete shelter designed to resemble a home apartment, starting around 60,000 euros. The latter can be installed inside a building, in a basement, or in a garden, with discreet access from inside or outside. The company, unique in its scope within Germany, emphasizes that pricing depends entirely on customer needs. The project volumes in this sector reach into triple-digit millions, reflecting both private demand and state-supported projects.
horror seismograph
The success of the BSSD enterprise mirrors a broader social mood in Germany. The decision to invest in a private shelter appears, in part, as a barometer of public anxiety about the future. Regardless of the personal motivations behind shelter investments, the company’s turnover serves as a numerical reflection of collective fear and risk assessment.
BSSD’s spokesperson notes: “Before the Ukraine crisis, demand rose whenever a global crisis occurred. We had not seen anything like this before. Here is the surprising part: demand is rising at an exponential rate. Before the war, our website drew around 500 daily visits; now it exceeds 10,000.”