Bunker B-S 8 Hřbitov

Bunker BS-8 Cemetery

Useful Information

Location:	Kopčianská Street, Petržalka. Follow Kopčianská street to the village of Kittsee, right befor state border turn right at brown sign "CINTORÍN". Park at the Worls War I cemetery. (48.107950, 17.081344)
Open:	All year daily 14-18. [2020]
Fee:
Classification:	World War II Bunker
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Občianske združenie Zachráňme petržalské bunkre, Miroslav Košírer, Tel: +421 902 961 164. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1930s	Czechoslovakia decides to build a defense system around its borders.
1936	beginning of construction.
OCT-1938	work on the defense system stopped.
2007	articles published by Bratislava photojournalist Miroslav Košírer.
2008-2009	cemetery reconstructed by the Bratislava City Hall, with the help of foreign sources.
MAY-2009	exhibition of photo documents from the Military History Institute.

Description

Bunker B-S 8 Hřbitov (Bunker BS 8 Cemetery) is the largest and most heavily armed defensive facility in Bratislava. It was erected at the border to Austria to protect the Capital Bratislava. There is a series of 15 bunkers, BS1 to BS-15, which are located along the Austrian border from the Danube, around Petržalka, and back to the Danube. They follw the pre World War II Austrian-Czechoslovakian border, which was similar to tee modern border. Petržalka is a part of the capital which is located on the other side of the Danube.

After World War I the state Chechoslovakia was foundedd. In the early thirties the rise of the fascists made the government of Chechoslovakia nervous. They decided to fortify the border to Austria and Germany, and the border near the capital was quite important because it is very close. The bunkers were built between 1936 and 1938. However, they were of no importance during World War II, abandoned and today only a tenth of the hundreds of fortifications still exists.

The best preserved bunker B-S 8 is located at a World War I soldier cemetery, hence the Nickname cemetery. The cemetery was also in a bad state when the Bratislava photojournalist Miroslav Košírer started to publish srticles in 2007. He was successful and the cemetery was reconstructed 2008-2009 by the Bratislava City Hall, with the help of foreign sources. He planned to reconstruct the nearby military bunkers but the Bratislava City Hall was not inerested, and so he formed a group of enthusiasts. The were supported by the Military Historical Institute and at the mayor of Petržalka. In 2009 they cleared the bunker which was then used by homeless.

A first exhibition was opened in MAY-2009, with photo documents from the Military History Institute, the Institute of the Memory of the Nation, the Jewish Museum and the archives of Miro Košírera. It was quite popular and was extended until OCT-2009. The bunker was visited by teachers with their classes and locals which were interested in the history. At the same time the restauration of the bunker was continued by volunteers. The civic association Občianske združenie Zachráňme petržalské bunkre (Let's Save Petržalka Bunkers) was founded in OCT-2009 to give the group a the possibility to officially communicate with institutions, or to receive sponsorship gifts or other material assistance. The bunker was equipped with electric light powered by a generator and exhibits like the reconstruction of the "Iron Curtain" was built.