The Detrius of War

During WWII, Bremen was a major target for Allied bombers - it was after all a major port city.  It's still easy to see where bombs fell - next to a lovely old city villa is a modern, non-nondescript apartment.

There are still bunkers around the city.  Some are decorated with murals to try and make them blend in. Others are overgrown and wonderful animal habitats.  They are just so hard to tear down, even 60 years later!

And there are the bombs still buried in the river and on the land - the reason they had the bunkers, of course.  I was really shocked when I moved here to learn that Bremen had a bomb squad - JUST TO DEFUSE OLD BOMBS!  Good grief, the things we don't have to deal with in the US of A - like defusing old WW!! duds.

While preparing a site for planting new trees in the City Park in the middle of Bremen, they came across a dud.  You never know if they're still live, so you call the bomb squad.  So, in the middle of town, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week, they shut down the middle of town and evacuated the houses and offices and apartments and diverted the traffic for at least 500 meters and defused the bomb.  These guys have nerve.

In this video, you can see the bomb - over 500 pounds. 

Very cool.  But a little strange. You never know if you're walking over a bomb.....