Huge evacuation in Cologne: 20,000 people affected by bombing!

Huge evacuation in Cologne: 20,000 people affected by bombing!

On Wednesday, June 2nd, 2025, many Cologne residents come up: exciting hours. The reason for this is the defusing of three World War II bombs that were discovered in the Cologne-Deutz district. As the city of Cologne reports, 20,000 people are expected to leave their apartments in the course of this campaign, which leads to one of the greatest evacuations in recent years. n-tv emphasizes that affected institutions in the evacuation area and the Wallraf-Museum, among other things are.

But that's not all: the television station RTL is also affected, which will send its early magazines "point 6" and "point 7" live from the broadcast center in Deutz, while the broadcast of "point 8" is canceled. The RTL building and adjacent facilities such as the Eduardus Hospital, two nursing and old people's homes and the Cologne town hall are to be evacuated until 8 a.m. In this context, three bridges over the Rhine are also affected, including the Severinsbrücke and the Deutzer Bridge, which must be blocked.

Details for evacuation

The discovery of the bombs, two American 20-centers bombs and a ten-century bomb, took place on the same day as the evacuation measures. According to stadt-koeln.de , the ordnance were found on the Deutzer shipyard and are equipped with service tilts. The Düsseldorf district government's disposal service takes over the defusing that is scheduled for June 04, 2025.

The defined danger area extends over a radius of 1,000 meters, in which there are also nine schools, various daycare centers and 58 accommodation companies. It is recommended that those affected inform themselves on the website of the city of Cologne or at local media in order to remain up to date with roadblocks and possible impairments of local public transport.

Important information for those affected

affected residents are asked to take ID documents, medication, baby food and urgently needed personal items with you. Pets must not be set up in the contact point that is set up in the gymnasium of the Humboldstrasse vocational college. While the first evacuations already took place the night before the bombing, but not all residents had to save themselves in the contact points. Alternatively, some found refuge with friends and family.

like wdr , the first round of evacuation in the city center was supported by the Cologne fire brigade and the regulatory office. Public transport is also pulled out of circulation during the defusing until the bombs can be safely recovered. As soon as the defusing has been completed and all safety precautions have been taken, the residents can return to their houses.