Bombshells - More explosive ordnance discovered in Brandenburg in 2023 than in the previous year
Almost 80 years after the end of the Second World War, tens of thousands of explosive ordnance items are still being found in Brandenburg. This year, around 570 tons have been recovered across the state, the Ministry of the Interior announced on Wednesday. This means that a good quarter more has been discovered than in the previous year. Over 90 percent of this was destroyed.
At the same time, almost 540 hectares of land were declared free of suspected explosive ordnance. However, around 580,000 hectares are still under suspicion. Oranienburg, Potsdam, the Oder-Neisse line and the region south of Berlin are particularly affected.
Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) sees no end to the finds: "Tons of explosive ordnance found and destroyed does not mean that our explosive ordnance clearance service will have less to do in future. Because the cruel witnesses of the world wars are still lying dormant in Brandenburg's soil," said Stübgen. "Removing these ticking time bombs is a task that spans generations and is unfortunately becoming increasingly dangerous from year to year."
The approximately 570 tons included around 41,000 grenades, 11,000 rockets and anti-tank missiles, 1,900 weapons or weapon parts, 1,800 pieces of melee weapons, 900 incendiary bombs, 200 mines, 1,000 explosive bombs weighing over 5 kilograms and 370,000 pieces of small arms ammunition.
Millions to local authorities for clearance
The removal of explosive ordnance is still costing Brandenburg dearly. By the end of November, the state had spent a total of 15.4 million euros on the clearance of explosive ordnance, the ministry announced on Wednesday. Last year, the state reimbursed local authorities around 517,000 euros for the disposal of bombs and munitions. This was around 292,000 euros more than in the previous year, according to the Ministry of the Interior's answer to a question from the SPD parliamentary group.
At around 515,000 euros, almost the entire amount of state funds went to Oranienburg last year. The town was a particularly frequent target of Allied bomber units during the Second World War due to its strong arms industry. In 2021, Oranienburg was reimbursed around 193,000 euros for explosive ordnance clearance.
According to an overview by the Ministry of the Interior, municipalities have been reimbursed a total of almost 2.49 million euros for the removal of bombs and munitions from the Second World War since 2017. Oranienburg received around 2.31 million euros of this. This year, the town received around 217,000 euros for groundwater protection in connection with the clearance of explosive ordnance. Since 1991, 229 bombs have been defused in Oranienburg.
Over 300 million euros for explosive ordnance disposal since 1991
Since 1991, Brandenburg has spent more than 270 million euros in state funds alone on the removal of war-related waste. With the federal government's subsidies, this amounted to well over 300 million euros. Only since 2016 has the federal government reimbursed Brandenburg for part of the expenses for the discovery and defusing of Allied ordnance. Until then, the federal government only paid for so-called Reich-owned munitions on federally owned properties.
In future, the reimbursement of costs is to be regulated in a so-called Armaments Legacy Financing Act. The bill has already been submitted to the Bundestag for discussion.
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- Despite being Eighty years past the end of the Second World War, Brandenburg continues to uncover vast quantities of explosive ordnance, with 570 tons discovered this year alone, as reported by Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) from the CDU party.
- The Second World War had a significant impact on Oranienburg, as it was a frequent target of Allied bombings due to its robust arms industry. As a result, the town has had to deal with the consequences of war, including the removal of tens of thousands of grenades, rockets, and other weapons from its soil.
- The Ministry of the Interior announced that 90% of the recovered 570 tons of explosive ordnance was destroyed, but the task of removing the remaining ordnance is becoming increasingly dangerous and is a generational undertaking.
- The state of Brandenburg spent a total of 15.4 million euros on explosive ordnance clearance by November 2023, with Oranienburg receiving the largest portion of the state funds last year, approximately 515,000 euros, to cover the costs of removing bombs and munitions from the Second World War.
- Since 1991, Brandenburg has spent over 270 million euros in state funds alone on the removal of war-related waste, with the federal government contributing additional funds, bringing the total expenditure to more than 300 million euros.
- The consequences of war, such as the discovery and removal of explosive ordnance, are expected to be regulated in a future Armaments Legacy Financing Act, which has already been submitted to the Bundestag for discussion.
Source: www.stern.de
