DISTANT EARLY WARNINGS
Sometimes you experience an event so unsettling that it brings you up short, and you have to take a few moments to process your reaction. The Covid-19 pandemic has been full of them, and many more unpleasant than the one I’m going to discuss here.
On a sunny weekend afternoon in Munich, the sound of a PA broadcast came into earshot. First in German, then in English, the announcement outlined, briefly, the restrictions now in place across Bavaria due to the pandemic.
“Dear fellow citizens. Everyone in Bavaria is currently restricted from public areas and confined to their own premises. Stay at home. It is still possible to go to work, visit the doctor and purchase groceries. Restrictions are strictly monitored and violators will be prosecuted.”
Beyond the immediate unsettling context of the announcement, hearing the cold, almost mechanical, recitation brought on a Proustian rush that took me straight back to my childhood and life during the Cold War.
Emergency Population Warning Systems (EPWS), as they’re technically known, have a long history – and that history is woven through with a hint of forteana. By their nature, EPWS are intrusive and otherworldly.
“Restrictions are strictly monitored and violators will be prosecuted”
Throughout their history, EPWS have taken many forms, both audible and visible. Arguably, one
