Bunker love and a thrilling history

Gotland, rather exposed in the Baltic Sea, has always been a place worth defending. Through the ages, Gotlanders, or whoever was in power at the time, built impressive defence fortresses that made their impression on the environment. You can visit some of these sites to get a feel for what things were like in the past and what they are like now.

As early as in the Middle Ages, fortresses and other types of defences were built as protection from invasion and other threats. When the Second World War broke out, Gotland found itself in a very interesting position. Various forms of defence were erected.

Did you know that only Swedish citizens were permitted to visit Fårö and certain other strategic military areas between 1939 and 1998? Many protective bunkers were built and can be seen here and there along the coast. Even large caverns have been preserved.

Concrete and steel given new life

Regardless of where you are on the island, you are never far from a decommissioned military facility.

In many places you can see decommissioned facilities, trench bunkers, exercise fields and steel, concrete and barbed wire installations. Today they are monuments of the past. Just as old industrial environments can be charming, military remains can also take on a charm when nature takes over the area or people begin to use the environments in new ways. Old concrete bunkers can be repurposed to restaurants or fascinating accommodations. The military bunker at Bungenäs has been revamped into a cool designer hotel and Fårösund's former barracks and military exercise area are now home to a centre for creating films, a workout facility and homes with exciting architecture. In Salthamn north of Visby, you can go for a wine tasting in an old military entrenchment. The old P18 area in Visby is being developed into a living area with offices, elderly care homes, schools and residences. Military instalments have become spectacular and popular.

Look, but don’t touch

Take a close look at the remnants of centuries of various military mobilisations. But do not enter closed areas and never ever pick up items that could be military objects and explosive.

Even today, the military is active on Gotland. Don't be alarmed if a fighter jet roars overhead, or a column of military vehicles comes rolling along. If there's a camouflage-clad soldier crawling around in your mushroom forest, it's probably just an exercise. If you hear explosions around you and it is not hunting season, it is probably the Swedish Armed Forces exercising on land, at sea or in the air.

GOTLAND'S TOP FIVE MILITARY REMNANTS … if we disregard the Visby city wall

Tofta shooting range – Scenic area that is once again in use after reinstating the P18 Gotland regiment. The annual, extremely muddy Enduro competition Gotland Grand National is held here. For much of the year, access is prohibited. Be very careful to check that visits to the area are permitted – at other times it is prohibited and can put your life in danger. Tingstäde fortress – This fortress was completed just in time for the First World War. Here you can visit long underground passageways and secret rooms, buried in the ground. A military museum can also be found in Tingstäde.

Fårösund fortress – This fortress was built at the end of the 19th century to give Sweden a safe outpost in troubled times. It was decommissioned and converted into a hotel – still surrounded by barbed wire and strange spear-like objects. Karlsvärd fortress – On the small island of Enholmen outside Slite, Karlsvärd Fortress and two abitises, donjons, were built. These were completed in 1858. Today you can take a boat trip and get a guided tour of the grand building.

Bulwark – In the Tingstäde Träsk inland lake, you can find the remains of a large fortification built in a square with 170 metre-long sides. The wooden fortress was built in the 1130s and was composed of large boxes made of rough logs, where saddle notched houses stood on a floor. The logs remain at the bottom of the lake. We still do not know everything about this peculiar structure.