The Secret Soviet Bunker – Latvia

Back in the good old Cold War days the party leaders in Latvia figured they needed a bunker with command and control capabilities in the event of a war with the West.  It was disclosed to the public in 2003 but has remained untouched (or maybe slightly refurbished?) and is now open for public tours.  It sits under a rehabilitation facility out in the middle of the forest.

Unfortunately for us, the tour guide only spoke Latvian and so we missed out on some of the descriptions of the rooms and what the day to day operations of the facility were like. The bunker did have some descriptions in English and we guessed at the rest.

A lot of it was what you might imagine in a Cold War bunker, communications center with red phone directly to Moscow, giant maps in the planning room, propaganda posters in the canteen and a gold Lenin bust. Apparently they had Party parties in the bunker and so we got a sampling of some of the classic vinyl from the era, not really my style but I guess they took what they could get.

It was really an interesting thing to see even if we could’t understand our tour guide. Also, I now own a Latvian/Soviet gas mask, so I’ve got that going for me.