Berlin plans to demolish Hitler-era bunker despite preservation group's objections

Berlin city officials have backed plans to demolish a network of underground chambers built during the Nazi era to make way for new housing and office space, a decision that has drawn opposition from a historical preservation group that says the move would erase an important piece of the city's wartime past.

The remains lie beneath a vacant lot on Voßstraße in the central Mitte district, the former site of Adolf Hitler's New Reich Chancellery. The above-ground building was destroyed after the Second World War, but underground structures connected to it survived and remain largely intact beneath the surface.

The Berlin Senate has expressed support for clearing the site for redevelopment, arguing that the city needs more residential and commercial space in the area. The preservation group Berliner Unterwelten, which has spent decades documenting the city's hidden wartime architecture, has pushed back against the plan, warning that demolition would permanently destroy a site of historical significance.

Dietmar Arnold, who has led efforts to document the underground remains, recalled his first descent into the chambers years ago. He said he climbed down a ladder into a hole that a construction excavator had dug into the overgrown lot, finding an opening that led underground.

"I remember climbing through a grate and past rubble before reaching an airlock door," Arnold said, describing the moment he first entered the complex. Once through the sluice, he said, he found himself in wide, intact rooms that had remained hidden beneath the city for decades.

To press its case against demolition, Berliner Unterwelten has now produced a detailed model that shows for the first time what lies beneath the empty lot. The model is intended to give the public and city officials a clearer picture of the scale and condition of the underground structures, which are not visible from street level and have rarely been opened to outsiders.

The group argues the model demonstrates that the chambers are more extensive and better preserved than many assume, and that their loss would remove physical evidence of a chapter of German history that is otherwise difficult to study firsthand. Supporters of preservation have suggested the site could be documented, secured or partially incorporated into future development rather than destroyed outright.

City officials who favor demolition have not disputed the historical value of the remains, but have pointed to pressure to develop central Berlin sites for housing amid a broader shortage of available residential space in the capital. The Voßstraße plot has sat vacant for years, and officials have described redevelopment as a priority for the district.

The underground network beneath the former Chancellery grounds was connected to Hitler's command bunker complex, parts of which have become subjects of public fascination and academic study since the end of the war. Unlike some other remnants of the wartime complex, the chambers beneath Voßstraße were never opened to the public or formally preserved, and much of what lies there has remained undocumented until now.

Berliner Unterwelten has called on the Senate to reconsider the demolition plan and to weigh the historical importance of the site before any construction work begins. The group has not said whether it intends to pursue legal action or further public campaigns to halt the project, but it has indicated it plans to continue presenting its findings, including the new model, to officials and the public.

No date has been set for the start of demolition or construction work on the site. Discussions between city authorities and preservation advocates over the fate of the underground chambers are expected to continue in the coming months.