50 kilo bomb found in Erlensee: major evacuation started!

50 kilo bomb found in Erlensee: major evacuation started!

On August 26, 2025, there was a dangerous situation in the early afternoon in Erlensee in the Main-Kinzig district: A 50-kilogram World War II bomb was discovered during construction work in the Fliegerhorst industrial area. The immediate response of the emergency services ensured that the bomb was defused without incident at around 1:30 p.m. Around 1,000 people had to be brought to safety from an evacuation radius of 300 meters around the site. The area was previously secured with a drone to ensure that no passers-by or vehicles were in the danger area. The police and fire brigade were gathered at the sports field in Erlensee and had their hands full securing the area and carrying out the evacuation smoothly. Passers-by and delivery traffic were asked to avoid the danger area as much as possible. This defusing is not the first incident of its kind in the region; A similar 50-kilogram bomb had to be defused in Hanau in June, making citizens throughout the area familiar with the challenges of such operations.

A look beyond national borders shows that bomb discoveries are by no means an isolated case in Germany. On August 7, 2025, a 500 kilogram bomb that came from World War II was discovered in Frankfurt-Preungesheim. The evacuation of a radius of 300 meters affected around 2,500 residents who had to be brought to safety by 6 p.m. In this case too, the deployment of the fire brigade and police was extremely important in keeping the situation under control. The defusing finally took place at 8:55 p.m. after a comprehensive security measure and went without any complications, much to the relief of the returnees.

Situation in Cologne

The situation becomes particularly explosive when we look at the current events in Cologne. One of the largest evacuation operations since 1945 took place there, when three American World War II bombs were recently discovered in the Deutz district. Around 20,000 people had to leave their homes and the evacuation radius extended over 1,000 meters around the site. The city administration decided to take this measure to ensure the safety of all citizens, and police were deployed throughout the area to ensure the closures were enforced.

The impact on traffic was enormous: three bridges, a train station and numerous streets and S-Bahn lines had to be closed. The Hohenzollern Bridge in particular, which is considered an important traffic axis, was no longer accessible to train traffic, which led to significant restrictions on local and long-distance traffic. Shipping on the Rhine also had to come to a standstill during the defusing. A massive contingent of law enforcement officers ensured that the evacuation went according to plan, and an extensive range of assistance was provided by the city to meet the needs of those evacuated.

Overall, these events show that Germany is still confronted with the remnants of World War II. It is estimated that around 1,500 to 2,000 bombs are found in North Rhine-Westphalia every year, with around 200 having high explosive power. Especially in densely populated areas like Cologne, where the most recent evacuation took place, the responsible authorities must be well prepared - and they are, as the events of the last few weeks impressively show.