Cold War Museum “Bunker 42”. The Beginning.
Never, never go to the Bunker 42 Cold War Museum unless you’ve been to one of its similar structures before! And if you already have, there’s not much point in visiting the other locations.
I’m lucky – this is my third catacomb. The first one was actually Stalin’s bunker in Samara, and the second, Bunker 703, is simply the underground archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And if both of them are at a depth of 35 meters, then here you go down 65 meters!
You can visit by booking in advance on the website and signing up for one of the tours.
There are a few additional conditions that are best reviewed on the website in advance. One of them is timely arrival. You can arrive early and stand guard at the border post. But don’t relax—from that moment on, you’ll be under close surveillance, and definitely not as a civilian. I didn’t tempt fate, but I’m almost certain that if you’re late, you’ll simply be denied entry.
You’ll only be allowed through these gates after you provide your last name and it matches your booking details.
And beyond the gates, there won’t be any vast dungeons awaiting you, only an unsealed storage facility.
in which you gradually begin to soak up the atmosphere of the place.
Poster text: We must be on guard
You have to wait until the previous tour leaves. It turns out it was children.
On school days, every Moscow museum is always packed with children. Which is good, from any side, except silence and order.
Finally, it was our turn.
A keen eye never lets you out of sight. When I walked the wrong way from the ticket office to take this photo, a kind, steely voice over the speaker asked where I was headed.
I wasn’t offended, as I was raptly examining the entrance ticket I’d received—a masterpiece!
The bold font on the left side of the first image is the original English text. As you can see, foreigners are not prohibited from visiting it. However, all the advertisements in three languages also indicate this.
After waiting for the tour guide, or rather, the escort (I’ll show you later), we headed down. Along the way, we encountered both modern and historical signs and posters.
Text on the poster:
No to NATO’s dangerous plans!
No to new American missiles in Europe!
No to the arms race!
They are not that outdated.
The “door” of this establishment made a lasting impression: 40 cm thick, weighing 2 tons, and capable of withstanding a nuclear explosion no closer than 150 meters away.
If anyone’s under the impression that all bunkers in the world belong exclusively to Stalin, they’re wrong. There are tons of them all over the place. Churchill, Tito, Honecker, the US Senate and Congress, and the Chancellor and President of West Germany all had their own bunkers.
You and I don’t have our own bunkers.
Text: Famous bunkers of the world
After a short briefing on site
Wall text: STOP! Show your pass!
we set off on our journey
along endless corridors.
As you can see, the escort is completely in keeping with the style and era—he’s wearing the uniform of the sinister GPU/KGB! And it must be said, he’s not the only one there.
Besides the corridors, there are some interesting rooms there.
Just look at the sophistication of the interior designers: you won’t even find the door right away!
The next room impresses with its interior, false windows and size.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the bunker was used as a joint headquarters for the armed forces. The facility operated autonomously in anticipation of a nuclear strike on Moscow, with up to 2,500 personnel on duty at the time.
Since the Long-Range Aviation headquarters were housed here for a time, the tabletop exhibit is dedicated to this theme.
But my attention was more drawn to the presence of a typewriter with Latin script in the secret headquarters: had they let a spy in there?
And also this nondescript diplomat,
which turned out to be that very famous “nuclear briefcase”.
It’s a model, obviously, but it’s still impressive.
At the end of the hall is an inconspicuous door that opens into some unknown, but clearly interesting, rooms.
To be continued: Cold War Museum “Bunker 42”. End.