• A new permanent section dedicated to Russia's war against Ukraine opened on February 24, 2026 at the Berlin Story Bunker, a former Nazi-era air-raid shelter near Anhalter Bahnhof that already hosts exhibitions on Nazism and post-1945 German history.
The 300-square-metre "Ukraine Museum" features the largest collection of war artefacts outside Ukraine.
Curator Wieland Giebel and director Enno Lenze described the initiative as the world's first museum of its kind abroad, aimed at conveying the "physical reality" and "hardness".
Ukraine War Exhibition Opens At Berlin Nazi Bunker
Permanent "Ukraine Museum" launches inside historic WWII air-raid shelter to display front-line artefacts, drones, missiles and personal testimonies, urging sustained European support for Kyiv amid ongoing conflict.
Summary
Marking exactly four years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, a powerful new permanent exhibition opened today inside one of Berlin's most evocative historical sites: the Berlin Story Bunker, a massive former Nazi-era air-raid shelter.
Housed in the concrete labyrinth built to protect civilians during World War II bombings near the old Anhalter Bahnhof station, the "Ukraine Museum" transforms part of the 6,500-square-metre complex into a dedicated 300-square-metre space chronicling the ongoing war. Organisers call it the first museum outside Ukraine specifically focused on documenting Russia's aggression, Ukrainian resilience and the human cost of the conflict.
"The aim is to raise public awareness about the 'physical reality' of the conflict," museum curator Wieland Giebel told AFP during a press preview on February 23. Director Enno Lenze emphasised that the exhibition presents "personal stories, the brutality of the war, and everything Russia wants to keep secret."
Visitors encounter stark evidence brought directly from the front: remnants of Russian and Iranian-made drones, fragments of cruise missiles, pieces of downed helicopters, a mangled humanitarian aid vehicle and an array of weapons recovered from battlefields. Complementing the physical artefacts are video interviews and testimonies from approximately 30 Ukrainians — soldiers, civilians and others — who share firsthand accounts of survival, loss and resistance.
The new Ukrainian section integrates into the bunker's existing permanent displays, which cover the Nazi period (including a full-size replica of Hitler's Führerbunker room) and Germany's journey from 1945 ruins through reconstruction, division, reunification and up to contemporary crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.
By placing the Ukraine war exhibition in this WWII bunker context, organisers draw an implicit historical parallel between past aggressions and the current one, while underscoring how a site once tied to Nazi terror now serves to highlight threats to democracy and sovereignty in Europe today.
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The timing is deliberate: February 24, 2026, coincides with the invasion's fourth anniversary, a moment when international attention on Ukraine has faced challenges from "war fatigue" in parts of Europe and shifting political priorities. The museum seeks to counter that by making the distant conflict tangible for German and international visitors.
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