Bombing in Cologne: Evacuation on July 17th for 36,000 residents!

Bombing in Cologne: Evacuation on July 17th for 36,000 residents!

Köln-Lindenthal, Deutschland - in Cologne it will be exciting again next weekend: On July 17, 2025, a bomb defusation in Lindenthal is pending, which triggers worries and excitement among the residents in advance. This is not the first time this year that the city is confronted with the contaminated sites from the Second World War. On June 4, 2025, a large evacuation and defusing also had to be carried out. Overall, the Cologne residents are regularly confronted with fighting funds that are found during construction and exploratory work, which is shown in the number of evacuations.

like the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , a total of 31 bombs were discovered in Cologne, including 21 explosive bombs. In the missions, over 36,000 people had to be evacuated, which shows how high the number of those affected is. The greatest evacuation took place in August at the Gereon barracks when around 7,800 residents were affected. In order to cope with such a situation, enormous resources are used: 14,000 working hours were raised last year alone.

costs and challenges in defusing

A central topic in the bomb defuses is the costs. While the state of North Rhine-Westphalia takes over the expenses for defusing, eliminating and destruction of the ordnance, the local authorities and property owners must bear the costs of securing, barrier and evacuation. According to Express , the costs for the disposal of ordnance in 2019 amounted to a proud 22.7 million euros-a number that could have grown since then. For the city, the estimated costs for a large assignment are between 60,000 and 260,000 euros. The greatest expenditure on personnel costs, which can be between 5,000 and 100,000 euros and more.

For the Cologne team, the finds of bombs and other fighting are not only a question of security, but also an enormous logistical effort. The missions resulted in a total of 208 ambulances to ensure that all residents, especially the over 75-year-olds, could be safely evacuated. It remains to be seen whether the number of finds can be counteracted. In particular, it is complained that the need for disposal disposal will also affect future generations in the future, as Interior Minister Herbert Reul states.

Current developments in ordnance disposal

A look at the latest developments shows that the number of bombs found in NRW has decreased slightly in recent years. In 2023 1,133 ordnance were discovered, which corresponds to a decrease of 20% compared to the previous year. These numbers, published by Land North Rhine-Westphalia , reflect the general trend that many of the bombs are found before construction measures. However, the challenge for the Cologne residents remains that despite declining numbers, the danger is latent.

The dynamics in Combat ammunition removal remains high, and the Cologne residents have to remain vigilant in order to be able to react quickly in an emergency. The coming days will show how the next bombing in Lindenthal works and what teachings can be drawn from the previous missions.