Bunker Drnov - Cold War and Air Defence Museum, Military defense museum in Zvoleněves, Czech Republic
Bunker Drnov is an underground complex that once served as a central command post for monitoring airspace and now operates as a museum. The facility preserves original radar equipment, communication devices, and military objects displayed across its subterranean levels.
Bunker Drnov was built between 1981 and 1984 and entered service on 1 May 1985 as the command post of the 71st Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade and the 56th Radiotechnical Battalion, guarding Prague's airspace. The complex included a transmitting centre at Vítov, a guidance site at Zvoleněves and the Otrok pond, heated via a heat-exchange station. The Czech Army ended operations in 2003; the site was declassified in 2007 and taken over by the Bunkr Drnov civic association in 2009.
The top floor holds the museum, with a 700 m² hall used for cultural and social events, including the play Uran, a SuperStar casting show and rocket exhibitions. Filmmakers have also used the site: Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared here in a commercial shoot. Since 2021 an animal crematorium with a scattering meadow has occupied an abandoned building.
Wear sturdy shoes for navigating the narrow, uneven underground corridors, and bring a jacket since the temperature below ground stays cool year-round. Most sections are accessed via stairs, which may be challenging for visitors with limited mobility.
The site included outlying facilities: a transmitting centre at Vítov, a guidance station at Zvoleněves, and the Otrok pond, heated through a heat-exchange station. The bunker's diesel generators drew on a 25,000-litre fuel tank, and four generators fed a high-voltage transformer and switchboard.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,643 contributors worldwide.