Bad Karlshafen: Unannounced military exercise triggers police action

Masked and armed people
The police were not informed: Bundeswehr exercises caused an alarm in the Hessian spa town

Excitement in Bad Karlshafen in northern Hesse: An orientation march by soldiers from the Bundeswehr caused frightened children and a police operation there.

A Bundeswehr exercise triggered an alarm in two schools and a police operation in the northern Hessian spa town of Bad Karlshafen. This is reported by several regional media unanimously.

Accordingly, the police were alerted because residents of the city had observed hooded and armed people in camouflage clothing. The patrol car crews that arrived only found out on site that they were members of the Bundeswehr.

Bundeswehr regrets the incident in Bad Karlshafen

The schools had meanwhile been warned of a possible danger as a precaution, it said. The students were brought into the building and the doors were locked, reported one of the headmasters of the “Frankfurter Rundschau. “For us it was an emergency.” The events with the sometimes frightened students should be worked up in discussions.

The Bundeswehr later confirmed that 27 soldiers had walked through the city as part of an orientation march. The municipal administration was informed on November 23. “We had no indication that an orientation march could have such consequences,” quoted the “Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine” Mayor Marcus Dittrich. A decision was made not to inform the population. All institutions involved now want to examine what can be done better in similar exercises in the future.

“I very much regret the misunderstandings surrounding the orientation exercise in the Bad Karlshafen area, especially with regard to the students and teachers affected,” said a representative of the Bundeswehr. The incident happened on Tuesday.

Sources: Hessian radio, “Frankfurter Rundschau”, “Hessian/Lower Saxony General”