Rold Skov (Northern Jutland). Hidden deep in northern Denmark’s Rold Forest, almost 400 kilometres northwest of Copenhagen, ‘Regan Vest‘ top secret nuclear bunker was intended to house Danish government and authorities for 30 days in the event of a nuclear war. The underground shelter, still intact as in a time capsule, becomes a Cold War museum from Monday, opening to the public for the first time. Built between 1963 and 1968 at NATO’s insistence, and dubbed “Regan Vest”, it is nestled beneath trees, 60 metres under a chalk hill, and it was meant to be “the last bastion” of democracy in Denmark. According to museum curator and historian Bodil Frandsen, the bunkers already in use could in no way withstand the blast from an H-bomb, while the survival of the government in the event of a nuclear disaster was essential to the nation’s sovereignty. Indeed, the bunker was never used, taken out of service in 2003 and first revealed to the world in 2012. Walking through the long, arched corridors, visitors see the basic bedroom intended for the monarch, the cafeteria, the government conference room and 1960s-style decor in a dimly-lit lounge: a time capsule with everyday objects on display.
During the 90-minute tour, visitors will walk two kilometres and still only see about 40% of it. Since Ukraine’s invasion, the heightened tensions between Russia and the West have made the topic of the Cold War all-too relevant again. The Danish architecture firm ‘AART‘ won the competition to design the museum, together with SLA, Niras and Thøgersen & Stouby as sub-advisors. On the surface, the visitor and exhibition building will be the only visible manifestation of the new Cold War museum: built as four black boxes, the building is tucked deep inside the forest. Solid and reclusive, the boxes appear in the forest as almost hermetically sealed display cases where only a discreet retraction in the facade indicates the entrance to the museum. The boxes are clad in anodised aluminium, giving them their own unique weather-resistant structure. The four black boxes are based on one clear concept. While their exterior is the same, each interior has its own purpose and ambiance. The administration is private and pragmatic, the café and the shop are bright and vibrant, the learning centre is flexible and focused, and the exhibition is free and informative – and it is all linked together via separate areas that provide space for light and reflection before the next experience unfolds. In addition, the boxes appear as fragments of the landscape itself, forming part of the overall narrative of REGAN Vest with the entrance to the bunker, the existing engineer accommodation and other historical fragments.
The bunker REGAN Vest is a tangible proof of the threat felt during the Cold War and is the museum’s ultimate focal point. In the heart of the visitor and exhibition building is a scale model of the impressive underground bunker. The visitor and exhibition building has been built so that the flow of visitors centres around the model, and from this central area, visitors get an overview of and easy access to the museum’s many features, including the exhibition sections and assembly point for guided tours to REGAN Vest. The visitor and exhibition building contains seven exhibition sections that engage visitors and provide different perspectives on the Cold War, from the fear of nuclear weapons to the sharply drawn political fronts and scenarios, should the war break out. It is all staged to create continuity between the individual exhibition sections, while allowing visitors to move freely between each one and thus create their own experience.
Read more on Aart.dk, Nordjyskemuseer.dk
