Nuclear weapons? In Germany?
DIE ZEIT, 2022
1,200 people, a bakery, an Aral gas station, this is Büchel in the Eifel – the entire still life of the village is cut through lengthwise by the main road. And then there are 20 atomic bombs. Most likely they are there, even if nobody officially confirms it.
During the Cold War, the US stationed thousands of nuclear weapons on German soil, and after the fall of the Wall, they were transported back piece by piece. But the "20 things in Büchel", as the then Chancellor Gerhard Schröder once said in good Schröder German, stayed where they were - and are still there today.
Picture editor: Maria Rohweder
Writer: Florentin Schumacher
Nuclear Weapons? In Germany?
DIE ZEIT, 2022
Büchel in the Eifel: 1200 people, a bakery, an Aral petrol station, a view of the cemetery from the kindergarten - the entire village still life is bisected lengthwise by the main road. And then there are the 20 nuclear bombs. They are most probably there, even if nobody officially confirms it. The Bundeswehr spokesman makes a we-know-nothing joke when asked what is supposed to be stored a few hundred meters away from the Büchel town sign in crypts under the air base of Tactical Air Wing 33. Nuclear weapons? In Germany? Yes, there are rumored to exist.
Picture editor: Maria Rohweder
Writer: Florentin Schumacher
Kirchturm von Büchel und Person auf Fahrrad
Sicherungsanlagen um den Fliegerhorst Büchel
Szene Büchel
Sicherungsanlagen um den Fliegerhorst Büchel
Anti-Atomwaffen-Aufkleber auf einem Verkehrsschild direkt vor dem Fliegerhorst Büchel
Szene Büchel
Szene Büchel
Zaun mit Natodraht, Fliegerhorst Büchel
Szene Büchel
Tornado beim Start, Fliegerhorst Büchel
Protestpkalate, Kreuz vor der Einfahrt zum Fliegerhorst Büchel
Star-Wars-inspirierter Patch am Ärmel eines Soldaten auf dem Fliegerhorst Büchel. Es sind die Silhouetten von Tornado und F-35 zu sehen.
Ein CH-53 in den Startvorbereitungen, Fliegerhorst Büchel
Ein Tornado im Wartungshangar auf dem Fliegerhorst Büchel.
Oberst Thomas Helmut Langhammer im Besprechungsraum des Baubüros auf dem Fliegerhorst Büchel
Das Baubüro auf dem Fliegerhorst Büchel
Kirche in Büchel
Szene Büchel
Tornado beim Start, Fliegerhorst Büchel