Three bombs from the Second World War successfully defused in Deutz!

Three bombs from the Second World War successfully defused in Deutz!

There was recently an explosive discovery in downtown Cologne, more precisely in the Deutz district: On Monday, June 2, 2025, three unexploded bombs from the Second World War were found. The Düsseldorf district government's explosive ordnance disposal service (KBD) was in action on Wednesday evening, June 4th, to defuse the situation. The experts determined that there were two American 20-can bombs and one ten-can bomb, all equipped with impact detonators. According to Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, this find was special because it is not often that two 20-quintal bombs are found in one place.

The defusing was released at 6:20 p.m. and lasted about an hour. Dirk Putzer, the KBD's technical operations manager, said that defusing the smaller bomb presented some difficulties because the detonator was in a "desolate condition". Nevertheless, the experts managed to successfully remove it. The terrain on the banks of the Rhine presented a challenge due to the predominance of stones in the ground, which did not make the search easy.

Evacuation of the city center

Before defusing, an evacuation radius of 1,000 meters was set, which affected around 20,500 residents and professionals. In addition to the 58 hotels and numerous restaurants, schools, a hospital and nursing homes were also affected. The Eduardus Hospital, two retirement homes and parts of the city administration also had to be evacuated. Even television channels such as RTL were involved in the evacuation, which began at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning. This led to the city center appearing like a ghost town at times while everyone affected got to safety, reported the City of Cologne.

For those who did not have private accommodation, two contact points were set up: the exhibition hall 10.1 for residents from the right bank of the Rhine and the Humboldtstrasse vocational college, Pearlgraben 101 branch, for those from the left bank of the Rhine. A shuttle service was set up to facilitate evacuation. The measure was the most extensive that has taken place in Cologne since the end of the Second World War.

A historical problem

The problem of unexploded bombs in North Rhine-Westphalia should not be underestimated. Around 5,000 of these bombs are found every year, of which between 1,500 and 2,000 are in North Rhine-Westphalia. This is the result of targeted attacks on industry in the Ruhr area and easier access by the Allies over the course of the war. In Cologne it is estimated that around 300,000 unexploded bombs remained in the ground after the Second World War, which corresponds to a rate of 20%. This shows that there is still a latent danger posed by old explosive devices, which can be uncovered not only during construction work, but also through aerial photo evaluations from the war, as the Süddeutsche Zeitung explains.

Thanks to a precise analysis of the aerial photos from that time, the condition of the unexploded bombs is determined and the necessary measures are taken. The decision as to whether a bomb is defused or exploded always depends on the condition of the detonator and also on the overall situation on site.

At the end of the day, Putzer expressed his satisfaction with the successful completion of the operation and thanked the city of Cologne for restoring security in the Deutzer shipyard area.