A bomb from the Second World War was set to be defused in the centre of Potsdam, around 35km from Berlin, on Tuesday, resulting in the evacuation of around 6,500 people from their homes. The 250-kilogram unexploded bomb, said to be of US design, was discovered on June 3rd at a construction site near Leipziger Straße. The operation also involved the evacuation of nursing homes and has caused massive disruption to local transport. As of around 8:30am Potsdam’s main railway station was closed, according to
reporting by Tagesspiegel. When bombs of this size are defused in public spaces, authorities always take the precaution of evacuating all people from the area of the potential blast radius. In this case, with the bomb being located near the centre of Potsdam – the capital and most populous city in the state of Brandenburg – a large number of residents were affected. The restricted area includes the Speicherstadt, the Brandenburg State Chancellery, the state parliament as well as several ministries and the main railway
station. Also affected are the Investment and State Bank (ILB), a swimming pool, the Minsk and the Barberini museums and several hotels. A map of the evacuation area can be seen here. Defusing old munitions is careful work, but the longer part of the process is often the evacuation itself followed by a cleaning of the roughly 80 year old explosive. Demolition master Mike Schwitzke told DPA that the operation could take up to two hours, once its confirmed that no one is left in
the exclusion circle. The bomb is said to be located just 1.5 metres above the cellar of the former Potsdam brewery. The discovery of old, unexploded WWII bombs is still quite common in Germany. Some 17,000 people were evacuated from central Dresden last August for a similar defusal, and before that around 20,000 people were evacuated from central Cologne in June. More than 4,000 unexploded bombs are estimated to still be buried under the city of Berlin. READ ALSO: How many WWII bombs are still
being found in Germany? For some of Potsdam’s longer-term residents, bomb evacuations have come to be something of a routine. One elderly lady seen leaving her apartment told the Tagesspiegel that she’s been evacuated from her apartment for bomb disposals six of seven times. “I guess I’ll be back around 1:30 or 2pm,” she added. “So far, it’s always gone well.” Another resident suggested she’d rather be able to stay home at her own risk. “If it really goes boom, I’ll stand here in my
last shirt,” she said. Operation Crayfish During the Second World War, the first major bombing of Potsdam occurred in September 1940. Later, the British led a major attack on Potsdam on the evening of April 14th, 1945. In what the allies called Operation Crayfish, British forces dropped more than 1500 tons of high-explosive bombs and 40 tons of marker bombs on the city in about 36 minutes. Germans referred to the attack as the “Night of Potsdam”, during which around 1,600 people were killed, 1,000
buildings were destroyed and an estimated 60,000 people were left homeless. There was no major US attack on Potsdam, but the Allies commonly exchanged bombs.
Potsdam, WWII bomb disposal, evacuation, Leipziger Straße, 250-kilogram bomb, Brandenburg, main railway station closed, Speicherstadt, museums, ILB, nursing homes