Looking for a secure parking space? Here, your car will be safe even in case of a nuclear attack.
In the 1950s the Swedish government was very concerned about the possibility of a nuclear war. In order to protect the population, large-scale evacuation plans were created and underground shelters were built across the country.
In Stockholm, there was a lack of shelter places at the same time as there was a lack of parking places for the city's increasing number of cars. With Katarinagaraget (Katarina Garage), which is nowadays called P-hus Slussen, they killed two birds with one stone. The underground facility was designed by architect Allan Werner and built jointly by the city and the oil company IC (now OKQ8). IC was allowed to build a parking garage in Katarinaberget (Katarina Mountain) in return for it being used as a shelter in case of war. A 35-year lease agreement was signed between IC and the City of Stockholm, which was extended over time. The facility provided parking spaces for 354 cars. In case of war, it could be converted into a fully-functional nuclear bunker within 48 hours. Up to 20,000 people could find protection under its 20 meters thick granit roof and behind 6 detonation gates. It included sleeping places for 5,000 people, several independent water supplies, its own reserve power plant, an extensive air purification plant, a decontamination facility for cleaning from radioactive fallout and 250 water toilets that were replaced with dry toilets during the renovation in the 1980. Everything was fed and controlled from two three-story high machine houses, also embedded in the rock.
The shelter was accessible from Högbergsgatan 31, under St. Andrew's Church and also from Mosebacke torg. At the corner of Svartensgatan and Mosebacke a ventilation pipe on the lawn is still visible, and an air grill as well as the shelter sign on the retaining wall facing Svartensgatan (
https://api.reveal.world/story/1979).
There were plans for an emergency tunnel to the subway at Slussen, but it was never built.
Since 1957, the space has only been used as a garage and as a gas and service station.
Note: at the time of writing (August 2022) the garage was closed because of the extensive renovation works at Slussen.
Bonus fact 1: The scale of preparations for the nuclear war in Sweden was unprecedented. Shelters could protect almost 80% of the population. No other country with a possible exception for Switzerland had such a high shetler capacity.
Bonus fact 2: Swedish underground facilities for civilians, machines and warships were so extensive that Winston Churchill once asked the Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander which war Sweden planned to participate in.
Sources: “Parkera i Fred” by Henrik Nerlund, “111 Places in Stockholm That You Must Not Miss” by Christiane Bröcker and Babetter Schröder, Wikipedia
Cover photo: Holger Ellgaard
Historic photo: “Parkera i Fred” by Henrik Nerlund
Photo: Holger Ellgaard
