{"id":117254,"date":"2026-08-19T06:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/117254\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T06:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:52:09","slug":"secret-bunkers-being-built-into-swiss-alps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/117254\/","title":{"rendered":"Secret bunkers being built into Swiss Alps"},"content":{"rendered":"

The super-rich have plenty of luxury bunkers to choose from \u2014 but this one takes doomsday prepping to a whole new level.<\/p>\n

A massive network of underground vaults is being carved into the Swiss Alps, offering the ultra-wealthy a heavily fortified place to stash everything from priceless art and gold to vintage Ferraris and expensive wine, the New York Post <\/a>reports. <\/p>\n

Swiss businessman Thomas Gasser, chairman of the board of Br\u00fcnig Mega Safe, is behind the project beneath the Br\u00fcnig Pass near the village of Lungern.<\/p>\n

The complex will house about 20 private vaults buried under more than 100 metres of solid rock \u2014 a natural fortress designed to keep criminals out.<\/p>\n

Developers say security will be comparable to that of the Swiss National Bank.<\/p>\n

But getting in won\u2019t come cheap.<\/p>\n

Each underground cave is being sold on a 99-year lease, with prices starting at nearly 1 million Swiss francs \u2014 about AUD $1.74 million.<\/p>\n

Gasser\u2019s family company, which has 300 employees, has specialised in underground operations, quarrying and the use of explosives for decades.<\/p>\n

Construction is already well underway, with the complex expected to open next year.<\/p>\n

And forget simply driving up to your private mountain vault.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll first have to drive through a special checkpoint and get out of your vehicle: there will be several security checks, which obviously won\u2019t be disclosed to the public,\u201d Mr Gasser told Swiss publication, swissinfo.ch.<\/a><\/p>\n

Even reporters weren\u2019t shown the future entrance to the complex.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advantage is that the client becomes the owner: they have their own parcel number in the land register and can even mortgage the property,\u201d the developer said, according to swissinfo.ch.<\/p>\n

The underground space once had a much less secretive purpose. It was home to Cantina Caverna, a restaurant and event venue, along with a shooting range and a firefighter training centre designed to simulate tunnel fires.<\/p>\n

The project has drawn mixed reactions from residents of tiny Lungern.<\/p>\n

Some questioned why the village needs a luxury bunker for billionaires, with one resident complaining that \u201cthey\u2019re building something for people who already have enough money\u201d.<\/p>\n

Others were more receptive, joking that they looked forward to seeing Ferraris belonging to their new bunker \u201cneighbours\u201d racing along the surrounding Alpine roads.<\/p>\n

Switzerland is no stranger to storing valuables deep beneath its mountains. Over the years, a number of former military bunkers have been repurposed as fortified storage facilities and highly secure data centres.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Swiss banks managed about 9.3 trillion Swiss francs (about AUS $16 trillion) in assets, roughly half of which came from abroad, according to Presence Switzerland, an agency of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n

But the project in Lungern takes the idea to another level, with a sprawling facility aimed at wealthy clients from around the world looking for a protected place to stash their most valuable possessions amid growing global uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Bunker billionaire Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most notorious. The Meta CEO keeps a home base in Palo Alto while building a fortified Hawaiian escape complete with an underground shelter, private food and water supplies and an escape hatch.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on the New York Post <\/a>and was reproduced with permission<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The super-rich have plenty of luxury bunkers to choose from \u2014 but this one takes doomsday prepping to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[16],"tags":[57104,57033,46462,57089,57027,57054,57047,57034,57112,57053,57094,57101,57095,57080,57058,57063,57052,57060,57115,57099,57062,57096,57088,57072,50,57076,57114,57092,57066,11672,57024,22151,57036,57067,18502,57105,57109,57041,57030,57069,57025,45265,56904,56905,57085,57038,57107,4906,57029,57051,57061,57098,57055,57068,57121,57108,57077,57081,57071,57100,57113,9157,3008,57090,57045,57039,20587,57116,20942,1913,57078,57074,6332,57044,57026,14509,56907,57031,57056,57120,57070,17,57046,57117,57064,57082,57043,57119,57059,57079,57091,57022,57057,37012,57023,57049,57032,57073,57106,57083,57040,57093,57065,57084,57102,57042,17758,54335,57086,57048,57021,57037,57118,57103,57087,57097,57111,57110,56952,57050,56955,57035,23430,57028,57075],"class_list":["post-117254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alps","tag-s-family-company","tag-16-trillion","tag-46462","tag-300-employees","tag-a-99-year-lease","tag-a-firefighter-training-centre","tag-a-fortified-hawaiian-escape","tag-a-heavily-fortified-place","tag-a-home-base","tag-a-luxury-bunker","tag-a-massive-network","tag-a-much-less-secretive-purpose","tag-a-natural-fortress","tag-a-number","tag-a-protected-place","tag-a-restaurant-and-event-venue","tag-a-shooting-range","tag-a-special-checkpoint","tag-a-sprawling-facility","tag-a-whole-new-level","tag-about-20-bunkers","tag-about-20-private-vaults","tag-about-9-3-trillion-swiss-francs","tag-about-aus","tag-alps","tag-an-agency","tag-an-escape-hatch-this-article","tag-an-underground-shelter","tag-another-level","tag-assets","tag-aud-1-74-million-gasser","tag-billionaires","tag-brunig-mega-safe","tag-cantina-caverna","tag-chairman","tag-cheap-each-underground-cave","tag-criminals-out-developers","tag-decades-construction","tag-doomsday-prepping","tag-enough-money","tag-expensive-wine","tag-explosives","tag-ferraris","tag-fine-wine","tag-foreign-affairs-but","tag-former-military-bunkers","tag-fortified-storage-facilities","tag-gold","tag-growing-global-uncertainty-bunker-billionaire-mark-zuckerberg","tag-highly-secure-data-centres-in","tag-its-mountains","tag-lungern","tag-lungern-the-complex","tag-luxury-bunkers","tag-mixed-reactions","tag-more-than-100-metres","tag-mr-gasser","tag-nearly-1-million-swiss-francs","tag-next-year-and","tag-no-stranger","tag-one-resident","tag-palo-alto","tag-people","tag-plenty","tag-presence-switzerland","tag-priceless-art-and-gold","tag-prices","tag-private-food","tag-quarrying","tag-residents","tag-roughly","tag-secret-bunkers","tag-security","tag-several-security-checks","tag-solid-rock","tag-swiss-banks","tag-swiss-bunkers","tag-swiss-businessman-thomas-gasser","tag-swiss-publication","tag-swissinfo-ch-even-reporters","tag-swissinfo-ch-the-underground-space","tag-switzerland","tag-the-advantage","tag-the-board","tag-the-brunig-pass","tag-the-client","tag-the-complex","tag-the-developer","tag-the-future-entrance","tag-the-idea","tag-the-land-register","tag-the-meta-ceo","tag-the-most-notorious","tag-the-new-york-post","tag-the-owner","tag-the-project","tag-the-property","tag-the-public","tag-the-rich","tag-the-super-rich","tag-the-surrounding-alpine-roads-switzerland","tag-the-swiss-alps","tag-the-swiss-federal-department","tag-the-swiss-national-bank-but","tag-the-ultra-wealthy","tag-the-use","tag-the-village","tag-the-world","tag-the-years","tag-their-ferraris","tag-their-most-valuable-possessions","tag-their-new-bunker-neighbours","tag-their-own-parcel-number","tag-this-one","tag-tiny-lungern-some","tag-tunnel-fires-the-project","tag-ultra-wealthy","tag-underground-operations","tag-underground-vaults","tag-valuables","tag-vintage-ferraris","tag-water-supplies","tag-wealthy-clients","tag-your-private-mountain-vault","tag-your-vehicle"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}