There’s more to the German stretch of the Baltic Sea than idyllic walks along the beach, swimming, sailing, surfing, and relaxing in beach baskets. Between Flensburg and the island of Usedom, concealed to visiting sun worshippers, the Baltic Sea is also home to WWII explosives and chemical weapons.
Wicker Beach Baskets at the Baltic Sea, Photo: J. Elke Ertle, 2016. www.walled-in-berlin.com
Where is the Baltic Sea?
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean and is connected to the North Sea via the Kattegat and Skagerrak Straits. It is made up of a mixture of ocean water and freshwater delivered by numerous rivers. The Baltic Sea is surrounded by nine countries: Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Finland and Sweden. Germany enjoys about 450 miles of coastline along the Baltic.
Why and Where are There Explosives in the Baltic Sea?
In order to quickly demilitarize Germany following World War II, the Allies disposed of the remaining weapons of the German Wehrmacht in the Baltic in 1945. They filled barges and fishing boats with artillery shells, torpedoes, bazookas, cluster bombs, and V1 rockets, and dumped them into the sea. There are no records of the exact locations and quantities discarded. However, exploration has revealed that a number of ammunition dumps are located in the mouth of the Kiel Fjord and near the cities of Luebeck and Flensburg.
How Harmful are the Underwater Ammunitions?
Scientists have been able to prove that the discarded explosives are slowly dissolving in the water. They are already detectable in sea animals. In the Bay of Kiel, trace elements have been found in mussels, worms, snails, and fish. Even some flatfish are suffering from increased liver tumors. The quantities of carcinogenic elements are still small and, therefore, harmless to humans, but degradation is taking place.
What is being done?
The German government has earmarked 100 million euros for a pilot project to raise these deteriorating ammunitions from the floor of the Baltic Sea. The big question is what to do with them once brought to the surface. Should they be transported to a land site and destroyed? Should they be destroyed in place? What will be the safest way without causing explosions?
For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: Historical or current events, people, places or food.
Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall, and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
