ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a selection of separate cases of Danish urban civil defence architecture, all of them constructed in ordinary welfare state institutions for living, working, learning, recreation, and convalescing. It illustrates that through civil defence, the Danish state planned to not only control but also protect, and care for, its citizens in the event of nuclear war. Civil defence architecture, moreover, would often be integrated – perhaps even hidden – in already existing and accepted welfare institutions, making civil defence less visible, offensive, and alarming. One of the core features of the post-war welfare state in Denmark was the universal health care system. The expansion of the hospital services meant many new facilities were built, and they came to symbolize the national sense of pride in the welfare state. From 1949, nuclear civil defence became incorporated into the architecture and ideology of the expanding welfare state in Denmark. Welfare and warfare merged: civil defence was a welfare-security policy strategy.
