Vestiges of the Cold War: Bunker

In Albania, there is no way one can miss them. The bunkers built under the era of the dictator Enver Hoxha are visible in cities and villages, gardens and vineyards, on top of hills, in the mountains, by the seaside, and even in cemeteries.

In the 1970's and 1980's, the stalinian regime spread hundreds of thousands of reinforced concrete bunkers all over Albania, out of fear to be invaded. Today, the bunkers lost their military use. Some were dismantled and taken off; other got covered by plants. But many of those blockhaus found a new usage like becoming a stable, a storage place, or advertisement medium. Some have even been converted into cafes, or a hostel.

(Text and photos: Gaby Ochsenbein,, translated in English by Floriane Toux)