Command-Post Shelter
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A former nuclear shelter and command post underneath one of the 1950s palatial administrative buildings of the steelworks at Nowa Huta in Kraków, Poland.
>Combinations with other dark destinations
More background info: see under Nowa Huta for the general historical background of the steelworks and the planned model city for its workers, and for the wider context see also under Poland.
In the early 1950s, when Nowa Huta and the steelworks were planned and built, the Cold War may already have been in full swing, but the concrete threat from nuclear weapons was initially comparatively low, given that bombs had to be delivered by bomber planes and there weren’t yet so many of this new type of bomb. It was planned from 1952 onwards that Nowa Huta should feature air-raid shelters, and it was as such that they were initially constructed. Nuclear war considerations came later.
There were four strength categories, with category 1 and 2 being the strongest with the thickest concrete ceilings. These shelters were reserved for the authorities, party and company leaderships and Territorial Air Defence command posts. Categories 3 and 4 were for the general population and were much weaker. They may have protected against shrapnel and falling debris, but not against a direct hit from even a larger conventional bomb, and would have been pretty much useless if hit by a nuclear explosion.
Even the command-post shelters initially only catered for a stay of three days underground – too little time for nuclear contamination levels to have subsided sufficiently for it to be safe to venture out again.
Moreover, by the late 1950s/early 1960s, the Cold-War situation had changed, as longer-range bombers were developed and especially ICBMs, which could deliver nuclear bombs practically anywhere. In the light of this the command-post shelters were strengthened somewhat and the entrance/exit sections as well as the air ventilation systems were reconstructed to safeguard the shelter against contamination.
Yet it is unlikely that this shelter at Nowa Huta could have withstood a direct hit from megatons-yield thermonuclear bombs of the sort in service from the 1960s. So the complex was rather a fallout shelter, but not actually a full-blown nuclear bunker (see also Greenbrier, Marienthal, Ligatne, etc.).
In total, nearly 250 shelters, mostly underneath residential blocks, were constructed in Nowa Huta from 1952 onwards (i.e. the oldest buildings constructed between 1949 and 1951 did not have such shelters). There were also shelters underneath the cinema and the theatre.
At the (then) Lenin steelworks, category 1 and 2 shelters were built underneath the two administrative blocks that flank the entrance to the plant. The shelter underneath “Z Building” was a regular civil defence shelter, the one underneath “S Building” was a command-post shelter. And that’s the one you can visit on the extended Nowa Huta tours such as the one I went on in January 2024.
The interiors are said to be more or less exactly as they were when the shelter was abandoned and locked up sometime in the mid-1990s. It was only after the steelworks were sold to an Indian company in 2006 that the administrative blocks were vacated, apparently in ca. 2014. After that the command-post shelter was first opened to the public on sporadic tours run by a local historical society called “Rawelin” (who were also involved in the development of the Pomorska Street Memorial and apparently also run tours of the shelter underneath “Z Building”, as well as in other locations).
These days the command-post shelter under the “S Building” in Nowa Huta is in the hands of the “Fundacja Promocji Nowej Huty” (‘foundation for the promotion of Nowa Huta’, and their arm “eNHa Tours” currently runs the stand-alone tours as well as combined tours of the “Z Building” administrative block and the shelter. But they also let the company I went on an extended Nowa Huta Tour access to the command-post shelter (see below).
What there is to see: When I saw this site it was as part of a longer “deluxe” Nowa Huta Tour with the outfit “Crazy Guides” (see below for alternatives). After we had been shown around the central parts of Nowa Huta itself we headed to the steelworks gate and sign and our guide parked the car there. She then led us to the “S Building” former administrative block of the steelworks (make sure to take a good look at the palatial architecture of these blocks!). There we had to wait a moment while our guide fetched the key to the shelter.
Then we crossed the inner courtyard and entered the building at the south-eastern staircase. The spiral stairwell is covered with green netting to prevent anybody accidentally falling down – apparently this was installed because it was found that the railings are not high enough. At the basement level the netting is knotted up.
At the bottom we came to the steel door to the shelter, our guide unlocked it and led us inside. In a corner at the end of the first corridor section a mannequin wearing an all-body green rubber protective suit and a gas mask sets the Cold-War-theme tone.
The first room branching off from the corridor is some sort of meeting room with large maps on the wall. Red and blue circles around various locations on the map, including the Nowa Huta steelworks, apparently indicate the destructive ranges of nuclear weapons of different yields.
Another room has vintage telephone exchanges (switchboards) and other Cold-War-era communications gear. Here our guide explained the functions of some of the electrical installations and the switch between two voltage levels.
The next large room was the nerve centre of the command-post shelter and it looks fabulously retro and somewhat James-Bond-villain-esque. Apparently it was installed in this form in 1970. It features a good dozen individual seats at densely packed rows of desks all equipped with consoles including headsets, telephone receivers and dials. Some paperwork was lying on the desktops. And one seat was marked “Dyrektor Generalny” … the big boss’s seat.
On the walls are various charts and apparatus on which different alarm levels could be indicated as well as meteorological data and whatnot. Our guide also pointed out a metal box containing the master switch (or rather key) for the power supply to the entire steelworks complex. Allegedly this came into use during one of the protests in the 1980s (see Nowa Huta). There’s also a broadcasting desk and adjacent to this a small recording studio.
Another room looks like an office, with an old typewriter and various papers on a desk, a coat stand in the corner and again the walls are covered with maps and charts. A green-walled side room contains filing cabinets atop one of which sits a small old tube TV set.
Other rooms house the air ventilation/purification systems and our guide pointed out the bicycle seat and pedals, by means of which the apparatus could be operated manually (or rather “per pedes”) in the event of the loss of electrical power.
There’s also a kind of dorm room, with a row of made beds with woollen blankets in colourful designs and with ancient calendars on the wall of which one looked a bit like a pin-up to me. A closer look revealed that this particular calendar was from 1997. To me the dorm room looked decidedly unauthentic. I presume it was not from the original set-up but maybe was installed at a later stage when there was perhaps the option of staying overnight in the shelter?
Moreover there’s a room that looked a bit like a canteen to me and on the walls were display cabinets with all manner of awards and little pennants. In addition there are various banners with slogans on the walls, which, being all in Polish, remained largely a mystery to me.
By the way, our guide only initially pointed out various aspects and details but then gave us time to explore on our own, which was of course good for photography.
All in all, I thought this was a very worthwhile add-on to our extended Nowa Huta Tour, in fact I would go as far as saying it was the top highlight of the entire tour. For all those into the Cold-War era and retro gear from that time this is a must-see!
Location: underneath the south wing of the “S Building” administrative block at the entrance to Kraków’s Nowa Huta steelworks at the eastern end of al. Solidarności ca. 1.4 miles (2.3 km) from Plac Centralny; address: Ujastek 1.
Google Maps locator: [50.0783, 20.0673]
Access and costs: by guided tour only, mostly in combination with “Z Building” or as part of an extended Nowa Huta tour; prices vary quite a bit and can be fairly expensive.
Details: First of all: you cannot just rock up and visit this shelter independently. You have to go on a guided tour. There are a few options, including tours in English aimed at international visitors.
Probably the most popular of these is the extended Nowa Huta Tour that features the shelter as an add-on. That’s how I visited the place, using the outfit “Crazy Guides” – see here for practicalities. Similar packages are also offered by “eNHa Tours” at a somewhat more affordable rate.
Alternatively you can book one of the tours offered by “eNHa Tours” in co-operation with the foundation in charge of the site that start right there, i.e. do without the retro “communist tour” element of being driven around in a vintage car from the era (see Nowa Huta). For these on-site tours you still have to make an online reservation though (see below).
But then you have to make your own way to the meeting point:
From the city centre of Kraków tram line 4 takes you all the way there, the stop is called “Kombinat”. From Nowa Huta’s Plac Centralny you can take the same tram line or any that run the length of al. Solidarności (e.g. line 22). From the “Kombinat” tram stop head for the steelworks sign (impossible to miss) and then head north to the left one of the two identical administrative blocks. This one is “Z Building” and the meeting point is at the steps to that building’s main front entrance.
The regular two-hour tour features a combination of the interiors of the “Z Building” administrative block followed by a visit to the command-post shelter. This can be booked through the foundation’s website (fundacjanh.org – there is a “booking form”, but I’d recommend contacting them direct; there are also a contact form and email addresses). The price for this given on the website is probably outdated at only 40 PLN per person (latest year given is 2022).
Theoretically it is also possible to go on a stand-alone tour of just the command-post shelter; normally this is only possible for groups (at 20 PLN per head in 2022). The minimum or maximum group size is not stated, but what is mentioned is that you could join a group as an individual on “scheduled dates”. To find out about these and booking modalities you have to get in touch with the foundation direct (see above).
Whatever you go for, I’d recommend getting organized well in advance, as tour slots or spaces on tours in English may be limited.
Time required: We spent just over half an hour in the shelter during our extended Nowa Huta tour; when booked as a stand-alone tour, 45 minutes are allocated.
Combinations with other dark destinations: When I saw this shelter it came ready-combined with a longer tour of Nowa Huta, and even if you come to this place specifically, combining it with a look around the model town of Nowa Huta is the most natural thing to do. There are also two more nuclear shelters you can visit in that town.
At the steelworks, you can also go on combination tours (see above) of the interiors of the palatial former administrative “Z Building” (for an additional retro kick) and the command-post shelter; that way you also get to see the underground passage that connects the two administrative blocks!
See also under Kraków in general.
(photo publication approved by the Fundacja Promocji Nowej Huty)