Bunkers on the beach, Albania, April 2009
In April 2009, I traveled around Albania with a group of photography enthusiasts.
Albania, then a land of poverty, bunkers, young people and Mercedes cars. Mercedes cars? You could see Mercedes on every corner. When you ask how this is possible, given the financial situation of most Albanians, they answer that Mercedes is a status symbol. And if you want to have a reputation, you have to have a Mercedes car, any one. Year of manufacture does not matter…
The beaches are exceptional. With exceptional bunkers.
Concrete military bunkers are a ubiquitous sight in Albania, with an average of 5.7 bunkers for every square kilometer (14.7 per square mile). The bunkers (Albanian: bunkerët) were built during the Hoxhaist government led by the Leader Enver Hoxha from the 1960s to the 1980s, as the regime fortified Albania by building more than 173,000 bunkers.
Hoxha’s program of “bunkerization” (bunkerizimi) resulted in the construction of bunkers in every corner of the then People’s Socialist Republic of Albania, ranging from mountain passes to city streets. They were never used for their intended purpose during the years that Hoxha governed. The cost of constructing them was a drain on Albania’s resources, diverting them away from more pressing needs, such as dealing with the country’s housing shortage and poor roads.
The bunkers were abandoned following the dissolution of the communist government in 1992. A few were used in the Albanian insurrection of 1997 and the Kosovo War of 1999. Most are now derelict, although some have been reused for a variety of purposes, including residential accommodation , cafés, storehouses, and shelters for animals or the homeless.
And so Mirko and I walked around Tirana early that Wednesday morning. Past the Parliament, the National Historical Museum, whose famous mosaic on facade was ‘retouched’. At the beginning of this century one of the five original creators of the mosaic (Agim Nebiu) was paid to destroy his own creation. During that act of destruction Nebiu changed three significant aspects of the original design. He removed; the large, gold outlined five pointed star that was behind the head of the central female figure; the small golden star that was situated between the heads of the doubled-headed eagle (that being the official flag of the Peoples’ Socialist Republic of Albania); and the book from the right hand of the central male figure, replacing it with what looks like a sack (the book would have represented both education and the written works of Enver Hoxha).
In a side street, we discovered a hidden courtyard full of monuments from the socialist era. Even Stalin’s and Lenin’s one.
As it started to rain lightly, we decided to retreat somewhere under the roof. We found a small cafe on one of the main streets. Stairs along the facade to the first floor. A small terrace with a few tables and chairs.
We express our desire for coffee to the friendly waiter. Macchiato, preferably. As we slowly sip our coffee, it occurs to us that we could eat some burek at this early hour.
Börek or burek is a family of pastries or pies found in the Balkans, Middle East and Central Asia. The pastry is made of a thin flaky dough such as filo with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese, spinach, or potatoes. Boreks are mainly associated with the Middle East, Armenia, and also with the former Ottoman Empire, including the Balkans and the South Caucasus, Eastern European and Central European countries, Northern Africa and Central Asia. A borek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. They are usually baked, but some varieties can be fried. Borek is sometimes sprinkled with sesame or nigella seeds, and it can be served hot or cold. In Albania, this dish is called byrek.
They tell us that unfortunately they don’t have burek. But a middle-aged man speaks from inside the bar. He says that the burek bakery is just around the corner. So we decide that one of us will go get it. However, a man stops us, saying that he will bring it to us. He really arrives in a few minutes, with a freshly baked, pleasantly tart, light, melt-in-the-mouth, fresh cheese burek. And how much do we owe to your kindness? No, no, eat in peace and when you are ready, come around the corner and settle the bill.
And so it was.
Time and time again, I am amazed at the kindness and trustworthiness of complete strangers.
Note
On August 6, 2012, the online edition of the German magazine Der Spiegel published the article Bunkerland Albania / Everyone take cover, where one of my photos was chosen as the cover photo. Of course, bunkers on the coast…