Give Me Shelter

Question: Where were hundreds of thousands of concrete domes made in preparation for war, but became a symbol of national identity instead?

Answer: Albania

In nearly every hillside and street in Albania, mushroom-shaped concrete domes sprout from the ground and dot the entire landscape. The mounds are the remains of bunkers built from 1967 to 1986 when a totalitarian dictator ordered their construction in preparation for a war that he thought was coming. The war never came, and the bunkers were never used—but anywhere from 175,000 to 750,000 bunkers still exist across Albania.

Following World War II, Albania fell under the leadership of communist dictator Enver Hoxha whose extreme totalitarian stance led Albania to become one of the most isolated countries in the world. During his rule, he banned religion and foreign travel and used secret police to stop anyone who dissented. He ended Albania’s alliance with the USSR after Stalin’s death, and he was hostile towards neighboring NATO countries as well as Yugoslavia.

With this isolationist and paranoid stance, Hoxha feared that a two-front war with Yugoslavia and NATO would begin. Since Albania’s small military would have been no match for these battles, Hoxha mobilized the general public and forced citizens to complete military training. He also ordered the construction of the steel and concrete bunkers in every location imaginable which were built to withstand an assault from a tank.

From 1967 to 1986, Albania carried out this "bunkerization" with hundreds of thousands of bunkers built across the country. The mounded pods were constructed everywhere—from the mountains to beaches, fields, cemeteries, and playgrounds. There was one bunker for every four Albanians and about 14.7 bunkers per square mile. In addition, larger bunkers were constructed underneath towns and cities which were big enough to house hundreds of people. A commander of engineering who oversaw the production once said, "in places that even goats wouldn’t pass, we had to build bunkers."

The construction drained Albania’s economy and took precedent over more pressing needs like growing food, and housing and road development. The presence of the bunkers created a constant sense of paranoia for Albanians, but the war that Hoxha envisioned never came. After his death in 1985, the communist government was dissolved in 1992 and the bunkers were largely abandoned. They were used sparingly during the Kosovo War and Albanian Civil War of the 1990s, but they were never used for their intended purposes.

Now, long after the totalitarian regime has ended, the bunkers still dot the landscape like scars from the past. Because of their durability, they are difficult and expensive to remove. Many have fallen into decay, but creative Albanians have turned some into hotels, homes, cafes, and more. Overall, the presence of the bunkers everywhere has made them a symbol of the country and a part of Albanian identity. Many believe that they should be repurposed and maintained in order to preserve Albania’s history as a country that has overcome 45 years of communism.

10 Creative Uses of the Bunkers Today:

• A former top-secret nuclear bunker has now reopened in the capital city of Tirana as a museum to remember the 100,000 Albanians politically persecuted by Hoxha’s regime from 1945 to 1991.
• One coastal bunker was repurposed as a beachside bar.
• The same entrepreneur converted another bunker into the base of a three-story hotel.
• Students at Polis University in Tirana started a project called Bed and Bunker which converts the bunkers into bed & breakfasts for backpackers and tourists.
• Others bunkers have been remade into inexpensive campsites and sleeping pods for travelers.
• Some use the bunkers as wine cellars since the temperature inside remains consistently cool all year round.
• They have also been used as rooms to make raki, a home-distilled spirit popular in Albania.
• Some of the bunkers have been converted into refreshment and snack stands for sporting events.
• When the bunkers are located on someone’s land, they are often turned into storage houses for keeping equipment or animal feed.
• Other Albanians have turned them into places for growing mushrooms, keeping bees, and even pizza ovens.

See the concrete mushrooms of Albania during Northern Greece, Albania & North Macedonia: Ancient Lands of Alexander the Great.