Overview
- A 150‑kilogram US World War II aerial bomb found at the Siemens Energy site in Gibitzenhof was rendered safe by a bomb‑disposal expert after a 400‑metre evacuation that affected about 1,200 employees and 234 residents, with the device defused on Monday, Sept. 28.
- In Cologne‑Rodenkirchen a ten‑centner American bomb with front and rear impact fuzes was discovered on Tuesday, Sept. 29, and a 500‑metre evacuation affecting roughly 3,000 people is ongoing while authorities prepare to close the A4 motorway.
- Officials warned the Cologne operation could take longer than usual because one of the two fuzes is damaged and two residents initially resisted evacuation, requiring on‑site interventions and the recording of personal details for planned fines.
- Emergency response in Nuremberg involved about 90 personnel from the city fire brigade, company fire brigades, volunteer fire services, rescue organisations and police, and Cologne authorities arranged ambulance and care transports plus local shelter support from businesses.
- These incidents follow a previous unexploded bomb on the same Siemens site about eight weeks earlier and highlight a recurring risk in German redevelopment projects where damaged or multiple fuzes raise technical difficulty and cause wider transport and community disruption.