Parts of Potsdam city center to be sealed off Tuesday for World War II bomb disposal

The bomb and the operation

A 250-kilogram bomb from the Second World War will be defused on Tuesday in central Potsdam, the city administration has announced. Explosive ordnance disposal expert Mike Schwitzke will lead the operation, which he described as routine. He expects the actual defusing to take between 30 minutes and one hour once the exclusion zone is fully established.

Business as usual.

The bomb was discovered during construction work. After an assessment by Brandenburg’s ordnance disposal service, authorities set the date for Tuesday, though they have not disclosed the exact reasoning beyond saying the day was chosen jointly with the incident command.

Evacuation zone

About 6,500 people must leave their homes by 8:30 a.m. A safety perimeter with a radius of around 700 meters will be drawn around the site. Residents who have to evacuate can use a sports hall from 8:00 a.m. as an emergency shelter. The city has also asked those affected to plan extra time and detour widely around the area.

The exclusion zone encompasses the state parliament, the state chancellery, several ministries, the Barberini Museum, the art house “Das Minsk,” a swimming pool, the investment and state bank, hotels, nursing homes, a school, and a daycare center. The parliament administration estimates that on a typical Tuesday, 250 to 300 people work there before plenary sessions resume on Wednesday. The Barberini Museum and Das Minsk are ordinarily closed on Tuesdays, so they will not need special arrangements.

Transport standstill

Potsdam’s main railway station, the city’s busiest transport hub, will be shut down during the operation. The last S-Bahn from Berlin arrives at 8:12 a.m. and the last Regional Express (RE 1) at 8:05 a.m. From 8:30 a.m., S-Bahn trains bound for Berlin will start and end at Babelsberg station. Tram lines 91, 92, 93, and 96 will not run, and buses will terminate outside the safety zone at Platz der Einheit, Rathaus Babelsberg, and Zentrum Ost.

As soon as the security perimeter is lifted, services will resume.

Access roads from the south of the city will also be closed, with traffic diverted via Saarmund and Bergholz-Rehbrücke. The city expects heavy congestion and advises drivers to avoid the entire area.

Past incidents

This is not the first unexploded ordnance discovery in the heart of Potsdam. In January 2019, a 250-kilogram US-made bomb was found near the main station, forcing around 5,900 people to leave their homes.