Reminders of the Cold War
In Albania they are impossible to miss or ignore: the bunkers from the time of the dictator Enver Hoxha. They can be seen in towns and villages, in gardens and vineyards, in the hills, in the mountains, by the sea - and even in cemeteries.
In the 1970s and 1980s the Stalinist regime had hundreds of thousands of steel and concrete bunkers built, out of fear of foreign invasion. Today they have lost their military purpose. Some were dismantled and removed, others are slowly mouldering away or have been covered by vegetation; others have found a use as storerooms or stables while others still have been placarded with advertisements. Larger bunkers have even been converted into cafés or hostels.
(Pictures: Gaby Ochsenbein, swissinfo.ch)
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