The super-rich can enjoy the most luxurious goods in the world, and now it seems that “end of the world” bunkers are also being added to this list. Preparing for the apocalypse appears to have become fashionable.
A huge network of underground storage facilities is currently being dug in the Swiss Alps. Highly secured spaces for the ultra-wealthy are intended to become a safe place to store everything – from priceless works of art and gold to vintage Ferrari cars and expensive wine, writes The New York Times.
Although the ultra-rich could prioritize the survival of humanity and build mass shelters to accommodate many people, it seems they prefer to fill them with gold and wine.
Prices will start at nearly 1 million Swiss francs – just over 1 million euros.
Swiss businessman Thomas Gasser, chairman of the board of Brünig Mega Safe, is the mastermind behind this project under the Brünig Pass near the village of Lungern and a kind of face of luxurious excess.
Gasser’s complex will have about 20 private storage units, installed under more than 100 meters of solid rock – a natural fortress designed to deter criminals. Developers claim the security level will be comparable to that of the Swiss National Bank. However, getting in will not be cheap.
Each underground chamber can be acquired on a 99-year lease basis, and prices will start at nearly 1 million Swiss francs – just over 1 million euros.
Gasser’s family-owned company has decades of experience in quarry exploitation, underground works, and complex excavation in the Swiss terrain. So when the apocalypse finally comes, don’t expect to just drive up to the main entrance in your Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail.
According to Gasser himself: “First, you will have to pass a special checkpoint and get out of the car: there will be several security checks, which, of course, will not be disclosed to the public.”
Read more For the first time, a shark filmed another – the great white shark
The exact location of the “end of the world” bunkers is guarded so strictly that even journalists were not allowed to inspect the future entrance to the facility. Presumably, this is to prevent unwanted persons from entering and, when the world ends, “contaminating” the premises with their ordinariness.
Divided the residents
The project has divided the opinions of the residents of the small Alpine village of Lungern.
Some asked why their modest mountain community needs luxury bunkers for billionaires. One local resident noted that “they are building something for people who already have enough money.”
Others took a more cynical stance and joked that they would soon watch the “Ferraris” of the new bunkers’ “neighbors” racing along the winding Alpine roads.
Switzerland has long been accustomed to protecting wealth deep in the mountains. Over several decades, many former military bunkers have been converted into fortified storage facilities and highly secure data centers.
Essentially, in these mountains, it resembles less magical Moria mines – or Khazad-dûm. However, the Lungern project takes the whole idea of “keep your wealth in the mountain” to a new level. The huge facility targets wealthy clients worldwide looking for a safe and secure place to store their most valuable possessions against the backdrop of global upheavals and unpredictable times.
Zuckerberg’s bunker
Speaking of famous individuals preparing for the “end of the world,” one of the best known is billionaire bunker enthusiast Mark Zuckerberg. The Meta CEO has a base in Palo Alto, California, but also owns a fortified estate in Hawaii with an underground shelter, independent food and water supplies, and an emergency exit.
Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed in a 2016 interview with The New Yorker that he had an agreement with Peter Thiel, one of PayPal’s founders: if a major global catastrophe or societal collapse occurred, they would travel to Thiel’s remote estate on New Zealand’s South Island.
Read more Ukraine prepares for the defense of the last stronghold in the Donetsk region
