20,000 people affected Largest evacuation since 1945 due to bomb disposal in Cologne
The largest evacuation since 1945 has begun in the West German cathedral city of Cologne: A large part of the city center will be closed off so that three American World War II bombs can be defused.
04.06.2025, 09:03
04.06.2025, 09:07
SDA
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- In Cologne-Deutz, over 20,000 people have to be evacuated due to a bomb disposal operation from the Second World War - it is the largest operation of its kind since the end of the war.
- The defusing can only begin once all households within a 1000-meter radius have been checked and evacuated, which requires hours of preparation.
- Due to the closure of important infrastructure such as the Hohenzollern Bridge and the Cologne-Messe/Deutz train station, there are massive traffic disruptions for local and long-distance traffic.
More than 20,000 people will have to leave their homes in a 1000-meter area around the site in the Deutz district. The city announced on its website: "The evacuation is the largest measure since the end of the Second World War. Everyone involved hopes that the defusing can be completed in the course of Wednesday."
A city spokeswoman told the German Press Agency that it was not yet possible to say when the defusing itself would begin. The first check with the people will take several hours, and then there are still uncertainties.
Nobody knows yet when the defusing will begin
Roadblocks have been in place since 8 am. Representatives of the authorities are checking that all apartments are empty.
"It all depends on how successful the evacuation will be, whether the population follows the rules, whether everyone leaves the evacuation radius, and only when there is really no one left in the radius can our staff start their work," said Kai Kulschewski, Head of Explosive Ordnance Disposal at the Düsseldorf district government, on WDR's "Morgenecho".
In the entire state of North Rhine-Westphalia, 1500 to 2000 bombs from the Second World War are found every year, around 200 of the larger calibers such as those now found in Cologne, said Kulschewski.
Cologne's city center is the most densely populated in the whole of Europe, said Ralf Mayer, head of Cologne's public order office, on ARD's "Morgenmagazin". A hospital, two retirement and nursing homes, many museums and the RTL television station are located in the exclusion zone. Cologne Cathedral and the main railway station are not in the evacuation zone, but the Hohenzollern Bridge, Germany's busiest railroad bridge, is.
Deutsche Bahn therefore expects "considerable restrictions in local and long-distance traffic in North Rhine-Westphalia", especially as the Cologne-Messe/Deutz station is also closed.
