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Yikes! 70 years it's been hiding down there, just waiting for an errant barge or powerboat to come along during a dry spell or something. I know that they still find ordnance all over Germany from time to time, but I never considered before how difficult it must be to locate bombs that fell into rivers. Large numbers of people don't generally spend a great deal of time prowling around on river bottoms. There may be quite a lot of them underwater in urban rivers, now that I think of it.
Quote:
(CNN)A WWII bomb found by firefighters taking part in a diving exercise in a river in Frankfurt, Germany, was safely detonated Sunday.
The 250-kilogram (550-pound) bomb was discovered in Frankfurt's Main River, a tributary of the Rhine, on Friday. Around 600 residents were evacuated as bomb disposal experts detonated the bomb early Sunday.
Even now, 70 years later, more than 2,000 tons of unexploded munitions are uncovered on German soil every year. Before any construction project begins in Germany, from the extension of a home to track-laying by the national railroad authority, the ground must be certified as cleared of unexploded ordnance. Still, last May, some 20,000 people were cleared from an area of Cologne while authorities removed a one-ton bomb that had been discovered during construction work. In November 2013, another 20,000 people in Dortmund were evacuated while experts defused a 4,000-pound “Blockbuster” bomb that could destroy most of a city block. In 2011, 45,000 people—the largest evacuation in Germany since World War II—were forced to leave their homes when a drought revealed a similar device lying on the bed of the Rhine in the middle of Koblenz. Although the country has been at peace for three generations, German bomb-disposal squads are among the busiest in the world. Eleven bomb technicians have been killed in Germany since 2000, including three who died in a single explosion while trying to defuse a 1,000-pound bomb on the site of a popular flea market in Göttingen in 2010.
PS - It's Frankfurt, Germany. Frankfort is the capital of Kentucky.
Just an aside, but for the longest time I thought Kentucky's Frankfort was an alternative spelling for the German city.
But Frankfurt, Germany's name refers to a furt, a ford in English, of the Main River named for the Franks, a Germanic tribe.
The Frankfort in Kentucky is named for a ford of the Kentucky River named for Pioneer Stephen Frank who was killed there, and whose name may well connote Frankish ancestry.
Just an aside, but for the longest time I thought Kentucky's Frankfort was an alternative spelling for the German city.
But Frankfurt, Germany's name refers to a furt, a ford in English, of the Main River named for the Franks, a Germanic tribe.
The Frankfort in Kentucky is named for a ford of the Kentucky River named for Pioneer Stephen Frank who was killed there, and whose name may well connote Frankish ancestry.
An odd, but interesting convergence.
And it's actually Frankfurt Am Main, as Germany has another Frankfurt as well. Frankfurt an der Oder.
And it's actually Frankfurt Am Main, as Germany has another Frankfurt as well. Frankfurt an der Oder.
And I spent one of the most interesting nights of my life in Frankfurt an der Oder, which is right on the border between Germany and Poland.
I used to live right outside of the other Frankfurt, which is significantly larger than the one near Poland.
Anyway, Germans find about 2000 pounds of bombs and other explosives per year. There's so much unexploded ammo laying around that companies which begin construction must first hire a team of experts to be sure there are no explosives laying around on the property. In 2017, 70,000 people were evacuated in Frankfurt am Main because an unexploded and huge bomb was discovered. (A 4000 pounder!)
Location: IN>Germany>ND>OH>TX>CA>Currently NoVa and a Vacation Lake House in PA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
I used to live right outside of the other Frankfurt, which is significantly larger than the one near Poland.[/url]
Me too Kathryn. I lived there from 1983 through '86 with the Air Force in a small village called Gravenbruch which was around 15 KMs from the base. I loved Germany? What years were you there?
Just an aside, but for the longest time I thought Kentucky's Frankfort was an alternative spelling for the German city.
But Frankfurt, Germany's name refers to a furt, a ford in English, of the Main River named for the Franks, a Germanic tribe.
The Frankfort in Kentucky is named for a ford of the Kentucky River named for Pioneer Stephen Frank who was killed there, and whose name may well connote Frankish ancestry.
An odd, but interesting convergence.
And it's a tiny and boring place for a state capitol. I should know, I lived there for 20 years.
Me too Kathryn. I lived there from 1983 through '86 with the Air Force in a small village called Gravenbruch which was around 15 KMs from the base. I loved Germany? What years were you there?
Was at Rhein Main Air Force Base from 88-92. Exciting time to be there with the wall falling(and Trabants suddenly flooding the autobahn trying to keep up) and Desert Shield/Storm. It was funny that a history teacher was telling me that we would never see a reunited Germany in our lifetime.
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