Overview

• In Gießen’s Wieseck district, a 500 kg bomb found during construction on August 11 prompted the evacuation of 1,550 residents within a 250 m radius and was defused that evening.
• A 250 kg bomb discovered at a Stuttgart-Untertürkheim construction site on August 12 led to a 400 m cordon, the evacuation of about 1,000 people and disruptions to IC/ICE/EC/TGV services before its safe defusal.
• Authorities plan to defuse a British 500-pound bomb in Hemmingstedt on August 17, evacuating roughly 80 households and enforcing full closures of the A23, B5 and the Hamburg–Westerland rail line.
• Hessen’s Kampfmittelräumdienst says its 17 specialists can reach any reported find within about an hour, but warns that buried WWII ordnance remains a significant and recurring threat.
• Regional disposal units note that routine building and infrastructure works regularly uncover unexploded WWII munitions, prompting standard multi-agency evacuations, safety cordons and transport diversions.