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Cologne in turmoil: bomb defusal forces 20,500 people to flee!
On June 4, 2025, three bombs from the Second World War were defused in Cologne and 20,500 people were evacuated. Security risks and measures.
Cologne in turmoil: bomb defusal forces 20,500 people to flee!
On the evening of June 4th, 2025, the citizens of Cologne were faced with an extraordinary challenge: over 20,000 people had to spend the day in unfamiliar four walls because their homes and offices had to be evacuated due to the defusing of three dangerous bombs. To make matters worse, there was also an objector who delayed the evacuation measures and thus made the urgently needed defusing more difficult. Loud Express There is anger in the city because fines of 1,000 euros for such objectors are considered far too low. In other cities, up to 5,000 euros are charged for such a disability.
The Cologne city administration had already started going door to door early in the morning as part of a preventative evacuation and stood at barriers for hours to inform the population about the situation. They received support from the police. However, the majority of Cologne residents behaved sensibly and helped not to hinder the measures.
Evacuation and bomb disposal
The bombs, one ten hundredweight bomb and two twenty hundredweight bombs of American origin, were discovered during soundings at the Deutzer Bridge. Defusing the bombs was essential: for safety reasons, they were not allowed to be moved and had to be defused on site. This hectic pace meant that 15 couples who wanted to get married in Cologne's historic town hall had to reorganize their celebration because the building was in the evacuation zone DW reported.
Bios and nursing homes also had to be evacuated, moving patients and residents to secure facilities. In addition, there were 58 hotels that had to close and relocate their guests. Such measures are not only necessary in Cologne: In North Rhine-Westphalia, over 1,600 bombs were defused in 2022 alone, which shows the danger in many metropolitan areas that, like Cologne, are particularly affected by unresolved war memories.
The dangers of explosive contaminated sites
The situation in Germany is alarming. It is estimated that up to 100,000 tons of undetected bombs and munitions lie in the ground, especially in large cities. These explosive contaminated sites pose a high risk, especially in regions with intensive construction activity. Property owners are therefore encouraged to check with the authorities before any renovations or new buildings are undertaken to determine whether an investigation of the area is necessary in order to ward off the dangers visualjournalism.de explained.
Although bomb disposal technology has evolved, the work remains risky. If the operators do not follow the safety measures, there is a risk of serious accidents, such as the incident in Göttingen in 2010, in which three demolition experts lost their lives. In view of these conditions, it is not only the endless amount of explosives that we still have around the world that is worth considering, but also the future challenges of explosive ordnance disposal, which is on the financial agenda for many federal states.
The Cologne evacuation brought the dangers resulting from the remnants of the past back into the population's consciousness. A sensitive topic that affects us all and which is better talked about openly.