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Hand grenade in Eberswalde: Children discover war heritage in the playground!
An unexpected find: Children discover a hand grenade in Eberswalde, specialists secure the dangerous situation.
Hand grenade in Eberswalde: Children discover war heritage in the playground!
On June 12, 2025, an unusual find was made in Eberswalde: While playing, children discovered a hand grenade in a gravel area of the after-school care center on Ammonstrasse, which, as it turned out, was a remnant from the Second World War. The grenade was stuck in the ground, and the community in Eberswalde was briefly in a state of excitement when specialists from the ammunition recovery service were alerted. The ammunition recovery service is responsible for defusing and removing such hazardous substances in Brandenburg and other federal states. As barnim-aktuell.de reports, the discovery was a functional Soviet-made model.
To ensure the safety of residents, a 50-meter exclusion zone was set up around the site and all surrounding homes had to be evacuated. Nine people were affected, but they were able to quickly return to their homes after the grenade was successfully detonated. Particularly positive is the calm behavior of the children, who immediately informed someone responsible and did not touch the dangerous discovery.
Accidents are increasing
This dangerous incident wasn't the only thing that happened in Eberswalde on that day. At around 2:30 p.m. there was a serious traffic accident on the L291 between Liepe and the lock. A 24-year-old man lost control of his Suzuki while driving through an S-curve and collided with a Mercedes. In an unfortunate turn of events, the Suzuki was thrown back onto the road and hit a Kawasaki. Both the 24-year-old and the 23-year-old Kawasaki driver sustained serious injuries and the vehicles were no longer drivable. The total damage is estimated at around 40,000 euros.
There are also other notable incidents related to hazardous substances. A souvenir in the form of a hand grenade at Heringsdorf Airport on Usedom prompted a special deployment by explosives experts. A 78-year-old vacationer bought the supposed lighter, which turned out to be a dummy hand grenade, in Świnoujście. Fortunately, after a 90-minute check by the experts, the all-clear was given and the journey could continue for the other passengers, as [rnd.de](https://www.rnd.de/panorama/flughafen-auf-usedom-handgranatenattrappe-sorge-fuer- Sprengstoffalarm-BPGYTNL43VZ5XLEWI5D4G4G6J4.html) reported.
Explosive ordnance defusal and its history
The need to dispose of explosive ordnance, such as the hand grenades found, is not a new issue. Already after the Second World War, the ammunition recovery service, which was responsible for explosive ordnance disposal in the GDR, had to deal with the consequences of strategic bombings. Unlike in many other countries, it was not the military but rather civil organizations that took on this task. Since its founding, the Gmunitionsbergungsdienst der GDR has made a decisive contribution to the safety of the population by successfully removing unexploded bombs and other ordnance.
After reunification, the service in Brandenburg continued under the name “Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service”. In other federal states, civilian specialist companies are now also involved in explosive ordnance clearance in order to ensure the safety of citizens and eliminate sources of danger.
Whether in Eberswalde or on Usedom, such incidents remind us that we live in a region where history still harbors tangible dangers today. It remains to be hoped that the reconnaissance work in the area of explosive ordnance disposal will continue to progress well in order to ensure the safety of everyone.