Suspected World War II bomb at Müssen closes Hamburg-Berlin rail line

Bomb find halts Hamburg-Berlin line

On Tuesday morning, 27 October 2026, construction workers at Müssen station in Schleswig-Holstein came across an object that police described as suspicious. Based on current findings, police said, it could be a warhead. The Deutsche Bahn website referred to the defusing of a World War II bomb between Hamburg and Berlin. The rail link between the two cities was interrupted that morning, and the closure affected both long-distance and regional trains. The RE1 regional service between Hamburg and Rostock is also affected, and Deutsche Bahn organised rail replacement services.

Rail services and rerouting

Deutsche Bahn said all ICE trains between Hamburg and Berlin would be cancelled, as would all ICE services between Hamburg and Rostock. A Bahn spokeswoman told the German Press Agency (dpa) that long-distance traffic was being rerouted across a wide area and that partial cancellations were expected. Berlin-Hamburg-Amsterdam services now run between Berlin and Osnabrück via Hannover, skipping Hamburg-Bergedorf and Hamburg-Harburg, and trains stop at Hannover Hbf instead. Passengers were advised to expect delays and to check how their connections are affected before setting off. For Hamburg-Rostock, the operator set up a bus replacement service, and the Hamburg-Rostock line remains closed until further notice.

Evacuation and emergency shelter

The local hazard prevention authority in Müssen asked residents of Bergstraße and Bahnhofstraße to leave their homes immediately. The area to be evacuated extends about 200 metres around the find site, and the village has about 1,200 inhabitants. Police could not say how many people were affected. An emergency shelter was set up in the sports hall at Zum Sportplatz 3, 21516 Müssen, and people unable to reach it on their own were told to contact emergency crews on site. No help hotline was opened because the discovery came unexpectedly, and the emergency numbers 110 and 112 should be used only in absolute emergencies.

Bomb disposal still pending

The object is so far only a suspicion. Police said the explosive ordnance disposal service (Kampfmittelräumdienst) must establish whether it is munitions, and that team was alerted and was on its way from Kiel. Authorities were still waiting for the team to reach the site. Deutsche Bahn has not yet fixed a time for the defusing, so the closures stay in place for now and no reopening time has been given.