Berlin Bunker

Converting an old military bunker into bat roosts

An example of a bat conservation project

The small Brandenburg village of Prenden lies about 20 km away from Berlin. Although today it is a peaceful quiet place, during the cold war it housed numerous military compounds and bases for Russian and German soldiers. Prenden was in the old East Germany before the fall of the Iron curtain and because of its proximity to West Berlin was on the 'frontline' of the cold war. Amongst the various barracks and other military buildings many nuclear bunkers were built to house the leading political and military personal that lived in nearby East Berlin in the event of a nuclear war with the west. Luckily these nuclear bunkers were never used and never needed. And after the reunification of Germany and the withdrawal of the Russians the military bases and the nuclear bunkers fell into disuse. Care of many of these former military bases fell to the local wildlife and countryside department. They had the job of reclaiming large areas of land for nature.

In 2001 the local forestry office for Prenden, at nearby Lanke decided to convert one of the former nuclear bunkers into a roosting site for bats. The bunker they choose was one of several that would have helped protect the former East German President Erich Honiker in the event of nuclear war. Its job was to house soldiers given the job of protecting the president during and after a nuclear strike. Although Brandenburg is a beautiful place, and very rich in countryside and wildlife bats are under threat their. There is a shortage of suitable roosting accommodation for them both during the summer and winter. This problem is especially acute for the Mouse Eared Bat. Because of its large size this species needs large roosts, and these are simply not available nowadays. A number of other species are also having a hard time in Brandenburg, such as the Barbastelle. Many houses that were left as ruins in the former East Germany are now being converted into modern houses and thus bats are being excluded. The former bunker at Prenden was therefore an ideal opportunity to help the local bat population by making it 'bat friendly'.

The local forestry office decided to use volunteers to do the work and these came from all over Europe to show how Europe had come together in the past 15 years. Volunteers came from Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Belarus, Lithuania and the Ukraine. The languages used in the work camp were Russian and English.

The bunker itself was ideal for bats, being composed of several very large rooms. The temperature was constant at about 8 centigrade, and the humidity was high. Conditions that would be ideal for winter roosting bats. However the bunker was full of former military equipment and rubbish, and there was nowhere for the bats to cling to, the walls being flat and slippy. The first task was to remove all the rubbish and equipment. This took a lot of time. The area surrounding the bunker was surrounded with barbed wire and this also had to be removed. Eventually the bunkers were cleared at were just an empty shell. Then ssuitbale bat roosts had to be made.

The bat roosts were made from concrete blocks, which were rather rough in texture. Each block had gaps which ran through its centre, and these provided ideal crevices were bats could crawl. These were hung from the top of the walls in a way that even more gaps were made. In total about 100 concrete blocks were erected throughout the bunker. When we had run out of blocks, pieces of strong wood were used to make even more gaps. Drilling into the walls to make crevices proved impossible. It was estimated that there would be enough space for about 500 bats at full capacity.

Many of the doors around the bunker were widened to make it easy for bats to fly around in the bunker. A bat entrance was built, which was large enough for bats to enter and leave by, but not for animals any larger. Eventually the entrance to the bunker was to be closed with a strong door to stop bats being disturbed by man.

The project generated a lot of media attention, mainly because we were converting one of the bunkers used by Honiker. The project featured in a number of local, national and European newspapers, including the Frankfurter Rundschau and the Sunday Times. The project even featured on German national T.V. news and Radio. Many of us volunteers gave interviews and felt we were becoming famous!

The bat experts who were overseeing and helping the local forestry office with the project said it would take some years before the bats found the bunker and began using it to any great degree. Last winter the first bat visitors were spotted during a routine winter survey of the bunker by the experts. Hopefully more will use it in coming years and it will become a favourite winter 'bat hotel'.

European Bats

Home		Converting an old military bunker into bat roosts An example of a bat conservation project The small Brandenburg village of Prenden lies about 20 km away from Berlin. Although today it is a peaceful quiet place, during the cold war it housed numerous military compounds and bases for Russian and German soldiers. Prenden was in the old East Germany before the fall of the Iron curtain and because of its proximity to West Berlin was on the 'frontline' of the cold war. Amongst the various barracks and other military buildings many nuclear bunkers were built to house the leading political and military personal that lived in nearby East Berlin in the event of a nuclear war with the west. Luckily these nuclear bunkers were never used and never needed. And after the reunification of Germany and the withdrawal of the Russians the military bases and the nuclear bunkers fell into disuse. Care of many of these former military bases fell to the local wildlife and countryside department. They had the job of reclaiming large areas of land for nature. In 2001 the local forestry office for Prenden, at nearby Lanke decided to convert one of the former nuclear bunkers into a roosting site for bats. The bunker they choose was one of several that would have helped protect the former East German President Erich Honiker in the event of nuclear war. Its job was to house soldiers given the job of protecting the president during and after a nuclear strike. Although Brandenburg is a beautiful place, and very rich in countryside and wildlife bats are under threat their. There is a shortage of suitable roosting accommodation for them both during the summer and winter. This problem is especially acute for the Mouse Eared Bat. Because of its large size this species needs large roosts, and these are simply not available nowadays. A number of other species are also having a hard time in Brandenburg, such as the Barbastelle. Many houses that were left as ruins in the former East Germany are now being converted into modern houses and thus bats are being excluded. The former bunker at Prenden was therefore an ideal opportunity to help the local bat population by making it 'bat friendly'. The local forestry office decided to use volunteers to do the work and these came from all over Europe to show how Europe had come together in the past 15 years. Volunteers came from Spain, England, Germany, Italy, Belarus, Lithuania and the Ukraine. The languages used in the work camp were Russian and English. The bunker itself was ideal for bats, being composed of several very large rooms. The temperature was constant at about 8 centigrade, and the humidity was high. Conditions that would be ideal for winter roosting bats. However the bunker was full of former military equipment and rubbish, and there was nowhere for the bats to cling to, the walls being flat and slippy. The first task was to remove all the rubbish and equipment. This took a lot of time. The area surrounding the bunker was surrounded with barbed wire and this also had to be removed. Eventually the bunkers were cleared at were just an empty shell. Then ssuitbale bat roosts had to be made. The bat roosts were made from concrete blocks, which were rather rough in texture. Each block had gaps which ran through its centre, and these provided ideal crevices were bats could crawl. These were hung from the top of the walls in a way that even more gaps were made. In total about 100 concrete blocks were erected throughout the bunker. When we had run out of blocks, pieces of strong wood were used to make even more gaps. Drilling into the walls to make crevices proved impossible. It was estimated that there would be enough space for about 500 bats at full capacity. Many of the doors around the bunker were widened to make it easy for bats to fly around in the bunker. A bat entrance was built, which was large enough for bats to enter and leave by, but not for animals any larger. Eventually the entrance to the bunker was to be closed with a strong door to stop bats being disturbed by man. The project generated a lot of media attention, mainly because we were converting one of the bunkers used by Honiker. The project featured in a number of local, national and European newspapers, including the Frankfurter Rundschau and the Sunday Times. The project even featured on German national T.V. news and Radio. Many of us volunteers gave interviews and felt we were becoming famous! The bat experts who were overseeing and helping the local forestry office with the project said it would take some years before the bats found the bunker and began using it to any great degree. Last winter the first bat visitors were spotted during a routine winter survey of the bunker by the experts. Hopefully more will use it in coming years and it will become a favourite winter 'bat hotel'.
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