Superpower Underground Switzerland's Rise to Global Bunker Expertise in the Atomic Age

摘要

In the 1960s Switzerland started to build the world's largest system of civil defense shelters. Ever since, the tiny country has represented the gold standard for bunker design and technology, attracting worldwide interest amongst scientists, political elites, and private consumers. This essay examines the development, forms, and global reach of Swiss bunker expertise. It emphasizes the knowledge transfer and the networks of cooperation with West Germany and the United States upon which the career of Swiss bunker research was founded. At the same time, attention is drawn to the translation processes by which knowledge was locally adapted and technoscientific expertise was gained, strategically diffused, and marketed, thereby securing Swiss predominance in the field. In sum, the present study of Swiss bunker expertise showcases the often-ridiculed civil defense programs of the atomic age as a fertile ground for historians of cold war science and technology, allowing us to reveal a whole range of relevant and detailed engagements with nuclear practices and technology apart from completed atomic bombs. The essay also makes a case for exploring cold war scientific and technological achievements in a transnational frame while not losing sight of local conditions, national and economic interests, and narratives.