Bomb disposal team destroys four tonnes of World War II munitions near Potsdam

Controlled detonations in the forest

Explosives disposal experts in the German state of Brandenburg carried out four controlled blasts on Wednesday, 30 September, destroying around four tonnes of World War II munitions. The operation took place in a forested area in the Groß Glienicker Heide, situated north of the Potsdam district of Groß Glienicke along the border with Berlin. The ordnance destroyed on site comprised more than 8,000 individual items, including hand grenades, panzerfaust anti-tank weapons, and aerial bombs.

The operation was led by bomb disposal expert Mike Schwitzke from Brandenburg's explosive ordnance disposal service (Kampfmittelbeseitigungsdienst). Specialists initiated six separate detonations during the operation. The first charge served to frighten away local wildlife from the danger area, followed by four successive blasts that destroyed the stockpile in four designated portions. Pressure waves from the detonations were felt up to two kilometers away in the Berlin district of Spandau. A sixth and final detonation sounded the all-clear once technicians confirmed the area was secure.

Evacuations and road closures

Authorities established a 1,500-meter exclusion zone around the site in the morning to protect residents and infrastructure. The cordon encompassed the Groß Glienicker Waldsiedlung settlement in Potsdam, where approximately 700 residents had to evacuate their homes. It also covered roughly 50 detached houses in Berlin-Gatow, affecting around 150 people in the Spandau district. Within Potsdam, the security perimeter took in the Preußenhalle sports hall, the State Office for the Environment (LfU), a shared accommodation centre, and an assisted living facility. In Berlin, the zone covered the Gatow landscape cemetery, parts of the Rieselfelder sewage fields, and the Habichtswald woods.

The security perimeter was fully established at 11:05 after initial delays caused by several individuals who refused to vacate the area. Traffic restrictions began earlier in the morning, with the Federal Highway 2 (B2) shutting down at around 09:30. Traffic was rerouted via Ritterfelddamm, Kladower Damm, Gatower Straße, and Heerstraße. State Road 20 (L20) towards Seeburg and Falkensee was closed from the roundabout before Groß Glienicke. The adjacent village of Seeburg in the municipality of Dallgow-Döberitz lay outside the cordon, though some local farmland was included.

Post-war origins and site clearance

The systematic search in the Groß Glienicker Heide was commissioned by the Federal Agency for Real Estate (Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben) ahead of planned forestry work. Clearance operations running since the previous year have uncovered 15 tonnes of munitions in the area. While technicians safely transported the majority away for disposal elsewhere, four tonnes required on-site destruction due to their condition.

According to Schwitzke, the stockpile consisted of German and Soviet air force munitions originally stored at the nearby Gatow airfield. In the summer of 1945, Soviet forces moved the weaponry into the surrounding woods and carried out partial demolitions. The remaining unstable munitions were left behind in the border corridor between East Germany and West Berlin, where they remained buried for decades. Authorities lifted the exclusion zone and reopened all affected roads at 11:59 once the disposal was complete.

A spokesperson for the Potsdam city administration confirmed the conclusion of the mission:

The ordnance disposal operation in the forest area near Groß Glienicke was successful.