Szczecin Underground Routes

The Szczecin Underground Routes are three themed exhibitions set up in shelters near the main railway station. They can be visited independently, and the site has received visitors since 2006. In 2008 it was awarded the title of “Tourist Product of Poland”.

A wartime shelter

The core of the site is a former German air-raid shelter from the Second World War, known until the end of the war as “Stettin HBF-Kirchplatz” and opened in 1943. It was built by Polish and French forced labourers, using the cellars of the 18th-century city fortifications. The shelter has two levels, a staircase reaching 21 m underground and an area of about 3,000 m². About 5,000 people took cover in it during Allied air raids. After the war it was converted into a shelter, a civil defence training site and a warehouse, and civil defence training was held here until the 1990s. In 2014 the interiors were used as a set for the film “Wielka ucieczka na północ” (The Great Escape to the North).

Three routes

One ticket covers three routes: “World War II” (red arrows), “Cold War” (blue) and “Selfie with the PRL” (yellow). The exhibitions are supported by lighting, sounds, smells, film projections and exhibits, and the descriptions are in Polish, English and German. Visiting all the routes takes at least an hour. The site's own website says that the temperature inside is 14 degrees, photography is allowed and filming is forbidden.

Practical information

• Address: Dworzec Główny PKP, Kolumba 2. Enter through the main hall of the station to platform 1, then turn right to the glass shelter and go down the stairs; the ticket office is at the bottom.
• Individual visitors tour without a guide and without a booking, while groups book in advance by email. Opening hours depend on the season; the current ones are given on schron.szczecin.pl.
• Nearby: Port Gate and St James' Cathedral Basilica.