Cold War Museum REGAN Vest
- A unique sight in Denmark, the former nuclear bunker for the Danish government (and the monarch!) from the Cold War era. This was constructed, 60 metres underground, in the 1960s and kept at the ready until the 1990s. In a way it’s the equivalent of Germany’s Marienthal government bunker – except here in Denmark it’s been preserved in its entirety ... and since 2023 it has been open to the public!
Access is by pre-booked guided tour only, and visitors get to see the airlocks, generators, a medical station, ministers’ and the monarch’s rooms, the main situation room, staff sleeping quarters, supply rooms, the kitchen and cafeteria as well as leisure facilities.
In addition, the house of the “Master Machinist”, who looked after the facility at all times and lived above the bunker entrance, has been reconstructed in a 1980s style. Moreover there is a proper museum exhibition about the Cold War, nuclear weapons and civil defence. The latter can be visited without a guided tour. There’s also a large café and suggested walks around the above-ground area where you may spot traces of the bunker (e.g. air vents, emergency exits).
This is definitely a major dark-tourism site and one I will most urgently have to work into a road trip through Denmark in the hopefully not too distant future. Once I’ve managed it I’ll expand this stub to a full-length chapter and visitation report. Until then this short entry will have to suffice.
Location: in a remote and secluded place in the north of Jutland, Denmark, ca. 20 miles (30 km) south of Aalborg.
Google Maps locator: [56.8237, 9.8013]
Admission/tour: 270 DKK
Opening times (may vary seasonally): 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.