An explosive device found during construction work in Nuremberg was successfully defused on Saturday. Bombs resulting from the conflict are being discovered at building and construction sites frequently across the country. A World War II bomb found in the southern German city of Nuremberg caused the evacuation of 21,000 people on Saturday (15/11). The artifact ended up being successfully deactivated during the night.
Three explosives removal specialists worked for about an hour to defuse the bomb’s explosives, which weighed about 450 kilograms.
After the dismantling process, the bomb was removed and residents were able to return to their homes.
Before the evacuation, roads and railways were closed in a radius of 800 metres, and about 21,000 people were forced to leave their homes and apartments.
City authorities said this was the largest evacuation ever carried out in Nuremberg after the discovery of a World War II bomb.
The bomb was found this week during construction work on Avenarius Street, in the Großreuth area, west of the city.
Hundreds of emergency teams are on site
As of 7:30 pm (local time) on Friday, police began closing streets in the affected area. Cars equipped with loudspeakers drove around the area to inform residents.
Transport buses transported the affected people to the Berliner Platz School Center (Berlin Square), where a care center was set up.
The authorities also asked residents to leave their homes as soon as possible and stay with their relatives or friends.
Nearly 500 firefighters, about 250 volunteers from the rescue services, 60 members of the Civil Protection Organization and more than 100 police officers participated in the operation to support the teams that defused the explosives.
A recurring problem in Germany
World War II bombs are frequently discovered at building and construction sites across the country.
In September, two World War II bombs were found in different neighborhoods of Berlin, leading to the evacuation of more than 20,000 residents from their homes.
In August, security teams defused a British-made bomb found in the eastern German city of Dresden. The operation to defuse the 250-kilogram bomb required the evacuation of 17,000 people who lived within a 1,000-meter radius of where the device was located.
In June, the city of Cologne had to evacuate 20,000 people to defuse three American bombs dropped by aircraft in World War II. In the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the city is located, more than 1,600 explosive devices were defused last year.
In the state of Brandenburg, neighboring Berlin, in 2024 alone, experts collected 90 mines, 48,000 hand grenades, 500 incendiary bombs, 450 high-explosive bombs weighing more than five kilograms, and about 330,000 cartridges.
Cities like Frankfurt are also facing the problem. In 2018, 60,000 people had to leave their homes in order to defuse an explosive device.
In 2012, a bomb was completely detonated in Munich. A similar action often occurs when devices are found in river bottoms such as the Elbe and Rhine rivers.
The problem also affects several neighboring countries. In France and Belgium, ammunition from the two world wars, especially from World War I, is regularly found in areas such as Verdun and the Somme.
In Italy, a drought in the Po River Valley in 2022 brought ancient explosives to the surface. In the UK, a one-ton German bomb had to be detonated in a controlled manner in Exeter in 2021, damaging more than 250 buildings.
Gypsum (dpa, du, ots)
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