A Cold War Refuge is Hot Again

The hottest real estate in Switzerland right now might well be the country's estimated 261,418 bomb shelters. Ever since the cold war, the Swiss have been required either to have a bomb shelter in their homes or to pay roughly $900 for a place in a communal bunker. (The 1962 law states: "For every Swiss, a shelter.") Over the years, as fears over nuclear attacks faded, these shelters have morphed into storage closets, wine cellars, saunas, bars, bowling alleys and — at least in one case — a massive pizza oven.

But now Swiss authorities are urging the...

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