COLOGNE (dpa-AFX) - Empty streets, closed shops, and a deserted RTL broadcasting center: Cologne's city center has been transformed into a ghost town by the largest evacuation since 1945. More than 20,000 people had to leave their homes. This is because three American bombs from World War II are to be defused on the banks of the Rhine in the Deutz district this evening.
The authorities have established a 1,000-meter safety zone around the site where the bombs were found. The announcement is clear: this area must be completely deserted before the bombs can be defused. When the time comes, only two explosives experts will be allowed to remain in the entire evacuation zone.
Europe's most densely populated city center empties
Since 8 a.m., roadblocks have been set up around the restricted area. Public order officials are walking around to check that everything is really empty. Street by street, house by house. It's a lot of work, because according to Ralf Mayer, head of the public order office, Cologne's city center is the most densely populated in Europe. By noon, the so-called door-to-door rounds are proceeding without incident—no one is refusing to leave their homes.
The restricted zone includes a hospital, two retirement and nursing homes, many museums, and the television station RTL, which is now broadcasting temporarily from the outskirts of Cologne-Ossendorf and from Berlin. The Lanxess Arena has postponed a performance by comedian Tedros "Teddy" Teclebrhan until Sunday, and the Philharmonic has canceled a concert by the WDR Symphony Orchestra.
Couples who wanted to get married in the historic town hall did not have to cancel their wedding after all – but the ceremony will now take place in the less glamorous Porz district. However, registrar Manuela Beilmann is keen to make the new location appealing to the couples: "This is the only place where they can get married right on the Rhine – with a view of the cathedral," she enthuses on WDR.
Finally, no parking problems
8 a.m., Deutz district: For once, there is no shortage of parking spaces in the neighborhood on the right bank of the Rhine. Many residents have driven to family or friends outside the restricted zone – often with emergency luggage in the trunk, because no one can tell them when they will be allowed to return to their homes. "My husband is driving to work, our son is going to friends after school, and I'm driving to my parents," says a Deutz resident who is just closing her front door. "If there's no other option, we can stay there overnight."
Signs on lampposts point the way to assembly points, from where a shuttle service takes people who have nowhere else to go to collection points. On social media, some local businesses are specifically advertising to people who cannot get home: "The coffee machine is on and you can also work from home here," writes a café owner. An allotment owner is offering "a place to stay, even with dogs."
The closure of the center of Germany's fourth-largest city, with a total population of 1.1 million, has far-reaching consequences for the surrounding area. Although the main train station is not in the evacuation zone, the Hohenzollern Bridge, which leads to it and is the busiest railway bridge in Germany, is. Passenger trains will initially be allowed to continue across the bridge after 8 a.m., but will not stop at Cologne Messe/Deutz station. The Hohenzollern Bridge will be closed when the bomb disposal operation begins, at which point the main station will temporarily become a terminus. Shipping on the Rhine will also be temporarily suspended. Even the airspace will be closed.
2,000 bombs are found every year in North Rhine-Westphalia
Even after more than 80 years, the Second World War still has an impact on everyday life. Across North Rhine-Westphalia, between 1,500 and 2,000 bombs from the Second World War are found every year, with around 200 large-caliber bombs such as the one found in Cologne, said Kai Kulschewski, head of theexplosive ordnance disposal at the Düsseldorf district government, on WDR's "Morgenecho" program.
Cologne was one of the most heavily bombed cities in World War II. The lonely black cathedral in the middle of a complete wasteland became a symbol of the destruction of the war far beyond the city limits. And so, on this day, it is probably not entirely insignificant for the people of Cologne that their beloved cathedral lies just outside the restricted zone. Tourists and residents can continue to light candles there. /cd/DP/mis
