German city of Dresden cleared for WWII bomb defusal

The old town is illuminated at the river Elbe while the sun sets in Dresden, Germany, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.

BERLIN, Germany — Large parts of Dresden’s old town were briefly evacuated on Wednesday as experts sought to defuse an unexploded World War II bomb found during clearance work for a collapsed bridge.

Some 17,000 people were asked to leave their homes in the eastern German city, authorities said.

The affected area included the famous Frauenkirche, a church which was rebuilt brick-for-brick after being destroyed in the war, as well as several hotels.

The bomb was found on Tuesday during clearance work at the site of the Carola Bridge, one of Dresden’s main crossings over the Elbe river, which partly collapsed in the middle of the night in September 2024.

The entire structure is due to be demolished by October.

The bomb was successfully defused early in the afternoon and the evacuation order was subsequently lifted by police.

Around 80 years after the war, Germany remains littered with unexploded ordnance, often uncovered during construction work.

More than 20,000 people were evacuated from central Cologne in June after three unexploded World War II bombs were found, the biggest such operation in the city since the end of the war.

The heart of the city was left deserted, with a hospital, two old people’s homes, nine schools and a TV studio evacuated.

The bomb found in Dresden was British-made and weighed 250 kilograms, according to city authorities.