Koldkrigsmuseet REGAN Vest

A secret fortress beneath a quiet hillside

Deep in Rold Skov near Skørping, Koldkrigsmuseet REGAN Vest reveals a hidden chapter of Denmark’s recent past. From the outside, the landscape is all gently rolling chalk hills and forest paths, interrupted only by a modest yellow brick villa. Beneath this unassuming house lies a 5,500 m² bunker complex, carved 60 metres into the chalk in the 1960s at the height of Cold War tension. The facility was built in strict secrecy as Denmark’s ultimate lifeboat in the event of nuclear conflict. Designed to house around 350 people – including the government, key civil servants and the reigning monarch – it was intended to keep the state functioning even if everything above ground was devastated. Until recently, hardly anyone knew what lay below this hill.

Inside Denmark’s underground command centre

Access to the bunker is only on pre-booked guided tours, which preserve both security and a sense of drama. After moving from daylight into the reinforced entrance, you follow long corridors to a self-contained underground world. The air feels cooler and drier, the lighting subdued, the walls lined with original doors and technical panels. Rooms are left much as they were when the bunker was decommissioned: the government situation room with its maps and communication equipment, the regent’s bedroom, dormitories, canteen, communications centre and medical facilities. Together they show how leaders and staff would have lived and worked here for weeks, cut off from the surface yet constantly focused on events outside.

A 1980s home hiding an extraordinary entrance

At ground level, the engineer’s residence played a double role. It was a perfectly ordinary-looking service house and family home, but also concealed the main entrance to the bunker behind it. Today, the villa has been carefully furnished to evoke everyday life in Denmark around 1980. Inside you might recognise patterned sofas, chunky television sets, vinyl records and early video games like Pong. Visitors are encouraged to sit, open cupboards and leaf through magazines, blurring the line between museum exhibit and lived-in home. It gives a human scale to the strategic facility underground, reminding you that the Cold War was experienced as much in living rooms as it was in command centres.

Exhibitions that unravel Cold War anxieties

A contemporary welcome and exhibition building completes the site. Here, multimedia displays, artefacts and films explore the wider context of REGAN Vest: nuclear deterrence, international alliances, civil defence planning and the technological innovations that made an underground government possible. One area focuses on the bunker’s engineering – air filtration, power supply, water and waste systems that could keep hundreds of people alive below ground. Another looks outward, placing Denmark within global Cold War politics and tracing how public information campaigns and secret contingency plans evolved over time. A small cinema screens archival footage that captures the era’s mix of optimism, fear and routine preparedness.

Landscape, reflection and time to absorb

Outside the buildings, walking paths thread through the surrounding forested slopes, giving space to absorb the intensity of what you have seen. Interpretive material on the surface helps you imagine the vast structure hidden below your feet, while the peaceful setting contrasts sharply with the scenario the bunker was built to withstand. Many visitors spend additional time in the café, where views toward the trees and chalk hills provide a calm backdrop for conversation. The museum shop offers books, posters and objects with a historical twist, inviting you to delve deeper into Cold War history after you leave.

Planning a visit to an underground time capsule

Entry to REGAN Vest is by advance ticket only, and numbers inside the bunker at any one time are strictly limited for safety reasons. Tours are structured and time-slotted, with a fixed route and a steady walking pace, including stairs and some narrow sections. The underground environment remains cool year-round, so bringing an extra layer is recommended even in summer. Allow ample time not just for the guided tour itself, but also for the surface exhibitions, the engineer’s house and a short walk in Rold Skov. Altogether, the site offers a rare opportunity to step into a fully preserved Cold War installation and reflect on decisions once made in secrecy beneath an ordinary Danish hillside.