-COLOGNE, GERMANY - JUNE 4, 2025: Three unexploded bombs from World War II were defused by bomb disposal teams in Cologne, Germany, on Wednesday, June 4. Roughly 20,000 residents were evacuated before the operation as a precaution, the city's largest evacuation since World War II. The evacuation zone included significant parts of the city center and old town, forcing closures of 58 hotels, major museums, schools, kindergartens, and government buildings. The Hohenzollern, Deutz, and Severins bridges over the Rhine were closed, and the Cologne Messe/Deutz train station was shut down. Cologne authorities announced that the evacuation and closures began at 8 am local time and that those refusing to comply might be forcibly removed by police.