Potsdam evacuates 6,500 and shuts central station ahead of World War II bomb disposal

Mass evacuation in the city centre

Around 6,500 residents of Potsdam's inner city must vacate their homes by 8:30 am as authorities set up a 700-metre exclusion zone around the bomb site near the blu leisure pool on Leipziger Strasse. Evacuation teams will then check whether any people remain inside the cordon. Once the zone is cleared, bomb disposal expert Mike Schwitzke and his team will move in.

The operation is like a string of pearls — we can only start working when the cordon is in place. When everyone is out, we go in.

Nursing homes, a school, a daycare, hotels, the state parliament, several ministries, the state chancellery, and the Investitions- und Landesbank all lie within the exclusion area. The Museum Barberini is closed on Tuesdays anyway, sparing it from disruption.

The bomb and the disposal plan

The 250-kilogram bomb, containing about 100 kilograms of explosive, is a US-type World War II relic found on 3 June during systematic site searches. It lies 1.5 metres above the vault of the former Potsdam brewery's ice cellar and is in poor condition. Schwitzke says cleaning the bomb will be necessary before the detonator can be unscrewed by hand. A controlled detonation is not an option, he warns.

The bomb is 1.5 metres above the ice-cellar vault. If we blew it up, it would be a catastrophe.

The disposal itself could take between 30 minutes and two hours, depending on how quickly the cordon is established.

Transport gridlock

Potsdam Hauptbahnhof, the city's central railway hub, will shut entirely from around 8:30 am. The S-Bahn line S7 will terminate and start at Babelsberg instead, with no replacement bus service possible due to the cordon. Regional lines RE1, RB20, RB21, RB22, RB23, and RB33 will skip Potsdam stations, and the BER2 airport express will be diverted. Trams 91, 92, 93, and 96 and all buses from the main station will stop running or divert to the Platz der Einheit and Rathaus Babelsberg. Motor traffic from the south will be detoured via Saarmund and Bergholz-Rehbrücke, and the city advises drivers to plan extra time. Authorities expect service to resume only after the cordon is lifted, which they have not committed to a fixed time, though S-Bahn estimates suggest disruptions may last until 4:00 pm.

Precedent and preparations

A similar disposal operation in January 2019 evacuated about 5,900 people when another 250-kilogram US bomb was found near the main station. This time, the city has set up a sports hall for those needing shelter and urges anyone affected to use the diversion routes. The Landtag, which normally houses 250 to 300 people on a Tuesday before plenary sessions begin on Wednesday, has paused operations.