As of: March 27, 2024, 9:49 a.m
By: Christoph Gschoßmann
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The Wehrmacht, Royal Army and the police dumped ammunition and poison into a pond in the Heidekreis for years.
The renovation costs millions.
Munster - There are probably not many places in the world that are so contaminated and poisoned: The Dethlinger Pond near Munster in Lower Saxony contains chemical warfare agents and explosives in possibly unique quantities.
Based on a concept from 2015, a large-scale renovation project costing up to 80 million is underway because the toxins from the filled materials are increasingly polluting the groundwater.
Contaminated nature: Carsten Bubke, environmental technician at Heidekreis, looks at the Dethlinger pond.
© Philipp Schulze / dpa-Bildfunk
Dethlinger Pond in Lower Saxony: Contaminated with arsenic and other environmental toxins
After the Second World War the pond was filled in.
An investigation into a neighboring groundwater revealed massive contamination with warfare agent degradation products.
Measurements revealed, among other things, contamination with arsenic and at least eight other environmental toxins.
During the exploration of the pond between September 2019 and April 2020, a total of 2,552 pieces of warfare ammunition were recovered in three areas.
Thousands of shells have already been dug out of the ground.
Surname |
Dethlinger Pond |
Location |
Munster, Heidekreis district |
region |
Lüneburg Heath |
Federal State |
Lower Saxony |
diameter |
approx. 60 meters |
depth |
approx. 9 meters |
Open pit mine to |
1926 |
Dumped armaments waste |
Wehrmacht, Royal Army, Hanover Police |
“During wartime, the Wehrmacht disposed of the weapons there, then the British and then the Lower Saxony police until 1952.
She cleared the loot storage at the Munster Nord military training area,” explained Heidekreis environmental technician and explosives expert Carsten Bubke.
Allegedly, more than 100,000 different weapons could be stored in the pit in the Lüneburg Heath.
There is great uncertainty about the exact number.
The pond is located about 3 kilometers southeast of Munster, near the district of Dethlingen.
Lower Saxony: Dethlinger Teich was once an open-cast mine for diatomaceous earth
The United German Kieslgurwerke originally mined kieselguhr, a type of rock, in an open-cast mine, but mining was stopped in 1926.
Rainwater then formed a pond in the 60 meter long and nine meter deep pit.
From 1935 onwards, the National Socialists were already disposing of highly contaminated wastewater from a nearby air force ammunition facility.
A photo from 2023: Precautionary measures are being taken to renovate the Dethlinger Pond.
© Philipp Schulze / dpa-Bildfunk
When the British took over responsibility for German weapons in the area after the end of the war, transportable ammunition was dumped in the North and Baltic Seas, but the rest was poured into the Dethlingen Pond, as was combat material.
The Hanover bomb disposal squad then also used the pond as a disposal site for ammunition.
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100,000 detonators and 100 barrels of mustard gas found in Dethlinger Teich
In 2014, the state government of Lower Saxony announced concrete figures.
There were reports of 100,000 detonating charges, 30,000 grenades, 150 combat ammunition, 200 to 300 phosgene bombs, 300 barrels of liquid phosgene and 100 barrels of mustard gas.
A protective hall is intended to contain the toxic gases released during the renovation.
The explosive ordnance specialists, who do their work by hand, i.e. will have each of the explosive ordnances in their hands, are protected from toxic gases by protective suits and breathing masks.
The renovation is continuing and the authorities have imposed a ban on entry within a radius of 900 meters until June 20, 2028.
Even today, Munster is still closely linked to soldiers and warfare: the town of 15,000 is home to the largest base of the German army.
In 2023, for example, Ukrainian soldiers were trained there on German tanks.
(cgsc with dpa)