By Bertrand Benoit | Photographs by Sergey Ponomarev for WSJ

BERLIN -- Less than 20 years ago, Germany decided the risk of a military attack on its territory was so low that it decommissioned the country's last air-raid bunkers. Today, it is scrambling to roll back the decision.

Of about 2,000 bunkers and air-raid shelters operational during the Cold War, only 580 remain, offering space for 480,000 people, or half a percent of Germany's population. Even this figure is largely theoretical.

"Maintenance and servicing of civil protection equipment is no longer taking place," a government spokesman said. The country's remaining shelters, including Berlin's four facilities, are "neither functional nor operational," he added.

With military experts warning that Russia could be in a position to attack Western Europe within years, this leaves millions of civilians defenseless if there is a conflict similar to the war in Ukraine, in which Moscow is bombing cities almost daily.

Now German authorities are rushing to remedy the situation, drawing up lists of public spaces that can be rapidly and cheaply turned into shelters while planning sturdier protection further into the future. A pilot project aims to provide bomb shelters for one million people by the end of 2026.

Spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and threats toward the West, Germany has pledged to become "war-ready" by 2029. Its military spending is set to almost double by then. But the effort isn't just about loading up on tanks and drones -- it is also about ensuring civilians are prepared and protected in case of an attack.

"When I ask my friends what their stockpiling situation is, how much water, food and medication they have in the basement, the usual joke is that they have enough red wine to last for a year," said Tim Stuchtey, executive director of the Brandenburg Institute for Society and Security. "But it's not enough for the Bundeswehr to be ready," he added, referring to the German armed forces. "So must the whole of society."

Operation Plan Germany, a classified document drawn up in 2024, was designed to ensure that the country can function as a staging ground for hundreds of thousands of North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in a war. Officials said the plan outlines which roads and bridges can sustain heavy military traffic as well as steps to shield critical infrastructure and ensure the government and the economy can operate under sustained attack.

Bunkers are a key part of the plan. Yet analysts say the government is just beginning to spell out what these should look like.

"The government must define what it considers the threat to be. And secondly, what should be protected against this threat," said Norbert Gebbeken, head of the Risk Research Center at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich. "Neither of these questions has been answered yet."

Authorities are still working on a study to answer these questions, Gebbeken said. But the required bunkers will likely range from deep, highly reinforced underground facilities housing critical government functions to basic shelters protecting civilians from drone attacks, he added.

One of the most enduring marks left by World War II on German cities -- more enduring even than the destruction caused by Allied bombardments -- is the ubiquitous "Hochbunker": gray, windowless hulks of reinforced concrete that used to house antiaircraft batteries, telephone terminals or civilian shelters.

Almost indestructible, many have been sold over the years and turned into art galleries, clubs, hotels and luxury properties. A former World War II communications bunker in Berlin now houses the Feuerle Collection of Asian antiquities. One of its gloomy exhibition halls features an underground lake.

Beyond a few exceptions, renovating those and Germany's mostly underground Cold War bunkers, the largest of which could house several thousand people, would be expensive and slow, and in some cases may offer only limited protection. Large concentrations of people could also become targets in an era in which attacks on civilians have become routine.

German officials said Ukraine's experience showed that the main risk for civilians was being hit by missile shrapnel or drones. Hence the need for a decentralized approach: many smaller spaces that are protected from direct hits and can be reached within minutes of the alarm being given -- not vast underground bunkers that would need hours to fill.

"The idea is to use existing spaces and reinforce them, for instance by strengthening a basement ceiling to bear the weight of rubble," said Gebbeken. "These places can have other uses but they need some work done on them, they aren't entirely improvised. This is what we know from Israel and other places."

The Interior Ministry, the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance and the federal government's property arm are working on specifications for how to turn existing buildings into functional shelters. Meanwhile, regional authorities are drawing up lists of suitable spaces, from underground parking garages to subway stations and basements.

Once enough are found and fitted -- ideally with camp beds, sanitation, drinking water and air filtration -- to protect a million people by the end of next year, the program will be scaled up, according to a government spokesman. Authorities are also developing an app that would instruct civilians on how to get to the closest shelter as well as recommendations for turning private rooms into shelters.

More Germans are turning to specialized construction companies to discuss converting their basements into private bunkers.

"The whole topic was more a source of jokes for many years," said Peter Aurnhammer, whose company DSZ makes everything from panic rooms to fully autonomous underground nuclear shelters with radiation protection and independent power and water supplies.

"Things are changing, because of developments in Ukraine, Russia, but also our changing relations to the U.S., Germany's rearmament, the Middle East," he added.

A robust civil protection isn't just about saving lives in case of war, said Stuchtey of the Brandenburg Institute. It can also make war less likely.

"By signaling that we are taking on the challenge of Russia's aggression, that we are both able and willing to defend our values, we contribute to our deterrent," said Stuchtey. "We're basically telling Russia: Don't even think about it."

Write to Bertrand Benoit at bertrand.benoit@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 20, 2025 23:00 ET (03:00 GMT)

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