War relics in the mud
Created: 01/27/2022, 19:00
By: Robert Langer
Old weapon from the pond.
© Stefan Rossmann
Cartridges, anti-aircraft ammunition, parts of bazookas, steel helmets, weapons.
The witnesses were right.
Right at the beginning of the work, relics from the time around the end of the Second World War were found in the Melak pond not far from the Grafinger city train station, some of them a lot older.
Grafing - Back then sunk in the water, sunk in the mud.
The security operation with staff from a specialized company is not yet complete and could last for days.
First of all, the area was cordoned off.
Do Not Enter.
There was also talk that the police could patrol at irregular intervals.
Suspicion after preliminary investigation
What could be expected in the pond on Melakstraße was initially unclear.
Preliminary investigations with technical devices looking into the depths, also using a boat, had shown that there was at least metal in the subsoil.
The locations are marked on a map with colored markers.
Trigger: The pond is to be deepened for better flood protection in the area in order to create more volume.
But because there were eyewitness reports about sunk weapons, the town hall wanted to be on the safe side.
The right step, as it turns out now.
Contemporary witnesses are right
Because it is not possible to drain the pond, an excavator equipped with a particularly long boom dug through the subsoil.
Important to get to the bottom of the water, but also to avoid getting too close to the embankment.
Even the first filled shovels brought results.
The excavation was carefully examined by employees of the commissioned company.
Partly with simple devices, occasionally flushed with a water jet from a specially laid hose line, partly with dexterity in gloves, lined and waterproof.
Keep calm, it could be dangerous.
The mud from the depths of the pond stinks of mildew and rot.
Access gate dismantled
The work started with a delay.
The excavator was initially unable to access the site.
The driveway was too narrow.
But the municipal building yard moved in very quickly.
An access gate was dismantled, and a walled-in post was ripped out of the ground.
Branches were removed from trees that were in the way.
Work was also done on a second driveway.
"We didn't expect it to be that difficult," said Mayor Christian Bauer during the on-site visit.
Long boom excavator.
© Stefan Rossmann
The ammunition found so far is to be taken away together with other material and taken to a bunker in Munich.
Everything will be destroyed there.
Pay attention to environmental protection
Incidentally, the campaign must also comply with environmental protection regulations.
Any mussels found wander separately in a bucket and are released back into the pond.
Shells are reinstated.
© Stefan Rossmann
Document historically
Bernhard Schäfer, head of the archive and museum of the city of Grafing, explained that the finds should be historically documented.
It is also possible to issue them later.
You can read more news from the Ebersberg region here.
By the way: everything from the region is also available in our regular Ebersberg newsletter.
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