The good old, bad old days

An overnight stay in an old bunker once used by communist secret police is a fascinating – if slightly unnerving – way to get the feel of what life was like in East Germany until 25 years ago.

Located in the Thuringian Forest, in the centre of the country, the Frauenwald bunker was originally constructed in the 1970s so that senior officers of the dreaded Stasi police would be able to continue their operations in times of emergency or war. 

The deafening sound of sirens accosts the senses of the museum’s visitors as they are abruptly awoken from their slumbers after spending a night buried in the 3,600-square-metre air-raid shelter.

“Good morning comrades!” a voice bellows through a loudspeaker in the facility’s sleeping quarters. “Early morning exercise commences in five minutes.”

The 20 men and women rise slowly from their hard bunks and don the uniform of the long vanished National People’s Army (NVA) of the communist German state. 

Over 13 hours have passed since the bunker’s latest residents traded their civilian clothing for the washed-out military garb and the group have been under the command of “comrade major” Thomas Krueger ever since.

Krueger, dressed as a non-commissioned officer and wearing a red armband, has assigned them the “mission” of ensuring the security of the installation, which is a mixture of underground rooms and hardened above-ground buildings.

“These buildings are a valuable target for our enemies,” he explains.

Disguised as a water-supply facility in the woods, the air-raid site even had a code name: “The Costume Party.” That turns out curiously suitable for a place that now specialises in re-enactments.

It still houses a cache of equipment that can be found nowhere else in Germany. 

Constructed so that it could withstand a sustained military attack, the bunker has its own power supply, storeroom, kitchen, medical station, sleeping quarters and telex machine as well as mobile and stationary broadcasting apparatus. 

The complex was also capable of producing its own oxygen supply and could be hermetically sealed off from the outside world. 

Located on the property of a comfortable guest lodge, the Waldhotel Rennsteighoehe, the museum is open daily for guided tours in German, Russian and English. If you want the boots-and-all experience, an overnight stay costs in the region of 100 euros (Bt4,300).

“It’s what we like to call a reality experience, though all done slightly tongue in cheek,” explains manager Kathleen Hoehn. 

Lothar Schuetze stands beside a fallen section of barbed-wire fence and smokes a cigarette. 

The 52-year-old German received a voucher to spend a night in Frauenwald as a present, like many of the other guests. 

The IT worker has been assigned perimeter patrol duty until dinner and as he actually did serve for 18 months in the NVA as part of his national service while a young East German, he wears his own former uniform. 

“It didn’t do me any harm,” he says stoutly. “I have to say I don’t find the whole experience in any way amusing, but it is somehow surreal to do something like this now.” 

Michael Barufke, by contrast, has never served in the military and has a different view of the whole experience at Frauenwald. 

“It’s very much like a camping weekend or going on a rafting tour,” he believes. 

Krueger is the perfect commanding officer, as the 46-year-old really did once work in East Germany’s infamous Ministry for State Security and still yearns for communist days. 

“If the Wall hadn’t come down, I would be probably still there taking part in the hunt for class enemies,” he admits. “I now use my experience from those days in this job.”

A new day dawns in Frauenwald and virtually none of the guests have enjoyed a restful night’s sleep in the bunker. 

“I certainly don’t want to spend another night here,” admits Schuetze as he wipes the sleep from his eyes, unlike Austrian teacher Anders Matthias Bollmann, who is making a short film of his experience to share with his students. 

“I found it amazing,” says Bollmann. “Everything feels authentic and the history of the place has not been exaggerated, but rather was explained in a humorous manner.”

After completing their early morning exercise routine, the group strip their beds and evacuate the bunker, before strolling back to the neighbouring hotel-lodge, where a much-needed warm shower and hearty breakfast awaits them.