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Boston Globe
04-06-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
3 World War II bombs are defused in a German city's biggest postwar evacuation
Even 80 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs dropped during wartime air raids are frequently found in Germany. Sometimes, large-scale precautionary evacuations are needed. The location this time was unusually prominent — just across the Rhine River from Cologne's historic center. Significantly bigger evacuations have occurred in other German cities. One of the three unexploded bombs from the Second World War is fenced off with screens as specialists prepare to defuse them in Cologne, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Thomas Banneyer/Associated Press The evacuations included homes, 58 hotels, nine schools, a hospital and two nursing homes, several museums and office buildings and the Messe/Deutz train station. It also included three bridges across the Rhine, including the heavily used Hohenzollern railway bridge, which leads into Cologne's central station. Shipping on the Rhine also was suspended. Advertisement Clearance to go ahead with defusing the bombs was delayed somewhat because one person refused in the historic center initially refused to leave their home, city authorities said.
DW
04-06-2025
- General
- DW
Germany: Cologne evacuation lifted after WWII bombs defused – DW – 06/04/2025
Buildings across the center of the western city of Cologne were evacuated after the discovery of three WWII bombs. Some 20,000 people had been under evacuation orders. Large areas of the city center of Cologne were closed off on Wednesday as experts defused three bombs left over from World War II, which ended 80 years ago. The evacuation operation in Cologne, which has seen plenty of them over the years, was one of the largest to ever be carried out in the city since World War II, with some 20,000 people ordered to leave the affected area. What do we know about the evacuation? The process of defusing the bombs had to be delayed at one point because of a resident refusing to evacuate, according to a city spokesperson. An individual living in the old town resisted orders to leave their apartment, with public order officials, police, and the fire department enforcing removal measures. Kai Kulschewski, head of explosive ordnance disposal in the nearby city of Düsseldorf, who is coordinating the disposal, had earlier said everything was going to plan. He had added that the defusing operation had yet to begin as of the afternoon because not everyone had been evacuated yet. "We can only start when the last person is out," he said. Several roads have been closed off ahead of the operation Image: Thomas Banneyer/dpa/picture alliance Hotels, care homes evacuated The evacuated area included the entire old part of the city, 58 hotels, three Rhine bridges, the town hall, the railway station in the district of Deutz, which lies across the Rhine from the city center, museums, a hospital and two care homes. The city's major landmark, the Cologne Cathedral, was, however, situated just outside the danger area. Germany's national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, had warned that many trains will be diverted or even canceled, and road traffic has was severely disrupted. The weapons — two 200-pound (90-kilogram) bombs and one 100-pound bomb, all manufactured in the US — were discovered in Deutz on Monday. Security personnel are out in force for the operation Image: Thomas Banneyer/dpa/picture alliance In a statement on its website, the City of Cologne said, "The evacuation is the largest such measure since the end of World War II. Everyone involved hopes that the defusal can be completed in the course of Wednesday." Bomb defusals are nothing new in Cologne, as it was one of the major bombing targets for Allied forces during the Second World War. Among other attacks, the British Royal Air Force targeted Cologne with its first "thousand-bomber raid" on a German city overnight to May 31, 1942, dropping 1,455 tons of bombs and destroying or damaging thousands of buildings. Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher, Wesley Rahn
CTV News
04-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Cologne starts its biggest evacuation since 1945 to defuse WWII bombs
One of the three unexploded bombs from the Second World War is fenced off with screens as specialists prepare to defuse them in Cologne, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Thomas Banneyer/dpa via AP) COLOGNE, Germany — More than 20,000 residents were being evacuated from part of Cologne's city center on Wednesday as specialists prepared to defuse three unexploded U.S. bombs from World War II that were unearthed earlier this week. Even 80 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs dropped during wartime air raids are frequently found in Germany. Disposing of them sometimes entails large-scale precautionary evacuations such as the one on Wednesday, though the location this time was unusually prominent and this is Cologne's biggest evacuation since 1945. There have been bigger evacuations in other cities. Authorities on Wednesday morning started evacuating about 20,500 residents from an area within a 1,000-meter (3,280-foot) radius of the bombs, which were discovered on Monday during preparatory work for road construction. They were found in the Deutz district, just across the Rhine River from Cologne's historic center. As well as homes, the area includes 58 hotels, nine schools, several museums and office buildings and the Messe/Deutz train station. It also includes three bridges across the Rhine — among them the heavily used Hohenzollern railway bridge, which leads into Cologne's central station and is being shut during the defusal work itself. Shipping on the Rhine will also be suspended. The plan is for the bombs to be defused during the course of the day. When exactly that happens depends on how long it takes for authorities to be sure that everyone is out of the evacuation zone.
DW
04-06-2025
- General
- DW
Germany updates: Merz to take first trip to Washington – DW – 06/04/2025
06/04/2025 June 4, 2025 Cologne: WWII bombs cause large scale evacuations The discovery of World War II-era bombs in Cologne on Monday has led authorities to evacuate an estimated 20,000 people from their homes. City authorities say its one of the largest evacuations in postwar history and affected areas including the entire old part of the city, 58 hotels, three Rhine bridges, the town hall, the railway station in the district of Deutz, which lies across the Rhine from the city center, museums, a hospital and two care homes. Bomb disposal is a common occurrence in Cologne, which was one of the most heavily bombed German cities during World War II. Read more here. A large part of Cologne city centre has to be cordoned off for the defusing of three World War II bombs Image: Thomas Banneyer/dpa/picture alliance
DW
04-06-2025
- General
- DW
Germany: 20,000 evacuated in Cologne as WWII bombs defused – DW – 06/04/2025
Buildings across the center of the western city of Cologne have been evacuated after the discovery of three WWII bombs. The operation is one of the largest-ever in the city, where such unpleasant finds are commonplace. Large areas of the city center of Cologne were closed off on Wednesday as experts prepared to defuse three bombs left over from World War II, which ended 80 years ago. The defusal operation in the city, which has seen plenty of them over the years, is one of the largest to be conducted there, with some 20,000 people ordered to leave the affected area. Several roads have been closed off ahead of the operation Image: Thomas Banneyer/dpa/picture alliance Hotels, care homes evacuated The evacuated area includes the entire old part of the city, 58 hotels, three Rhine bridges, the town hall, the railway station in the district of Deutz, which lies across the Rhine from the city center, museums, a hospital and two care homes. The city's major landmark, the Cologne Cathedral, is, however, situated just outside the danger area. The weapons — two 200-pound (90-kilogram) bombs and one 100-pound bomb, all manufactured in the US — were discovered in Deutz on Monday. Security personnel are out in force for the operation Image: Thomas Banneyer/dpa/picture alliance Bomb defusals are nothing new in Cologne, as it was one of the major bombing targets for Allied forces during the Second World War. Among other attacks, the British Royal Air Force targeted Cologne with its first "thousand-bomber raid" on a German city overnight to May 31, 1942, dropping 1,455 tons of bombs and destroying or damaging thousands of buildings. Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher
