The Munich bomb
3.5 minutes read
Published 07/15/2013
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How a chemical detonator works

A propeller at the bomb’s tail-end begins to rotate when the bomb is dropped which drives a spindle. This spindle drills its way into a glass container filled with acetone until the container bursts. The acetone escapes and drips onto a small celluloid sheet. This starts a chemical reaction which dissolves the celluloid sheet and releases the detonating mechanism.
Overall loss of €4m
Uncomplicated claims settlement
German property insurers promised their policyholders cover quickly and directly. That is not a matter of course, as insurance policies generally exclude damage and losses due to acts of war. In a press release relating to the detonation of the Munich bomb, the Association of German Insurers (GDV) emphasised that in the case of losses attributable to war events, the war exclusion clause applies in the form underlying the terms of insurance recommended by the GDV. Losses sustained through detonation of the bomb are therefore excluded. This statement is based on the wording of the exclusion clause. Since 2008, the wording in property insurance has consistently been as follows: “Regardless of concomitant causes, the insurance does not cover losses due to war …”

The bomb was covered with 20 tonnes of straw on the building site where it was found, in order to reduce the risk of damage and injury from flying shrapnel. Given the high groundwater level in the area, it was also important to ensure that only some of the energy released by the explosion was diverted into the ground.
Removing unexploded bombs likely to take decades
The losses sustained through the controlled detonation of an American bomb in Munich therefore qualify as a final outcome of the massive aerial attacks over Germany during World War II, the warlike nature of which cannot be denied. This case proves once again that bombs and associated causal chains do not simply disappear, not even 70 years after the end of the war. Bomb disposal experts believe that it will be decades before all the unexploded ordnance has been eliminated.
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Expert

Leonhard Rolwes
is a property insurance expert at Munich Re and a member of the Model Conditions Working Group in the Association of German Insurers.
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