Between 1942 and 1945 Munich was hit by 74 flight attacks from allied air forces. About 50% of the town and even 90% of the Altstadt (Old City) were destroyed. More than 6,500 people were killed and 15,000 were injured and more than 300,000 lost their homes. Because the city of Munich was so devastated after the bombing campaigns, there were plans which seriously considered the relocation of the entire city and building it anew on the banks of Lake Starnberg.

Ultimately, the citizens and politicians decided to rebuild the historic city centre. The Olympiaberg, for example, which looks out over the city, was created as a result of the ruins left over from the bombing of Munich.

Almost 70 years after the end of WWII, bombs are still regularly being found in Munich. A bomb was discovered just a few months ago near the Donnersburgerbrücke, during the rennovation of the S-Bahn tracks. In 2011 alone, the Kampfmittelräumdienst (Bomb Disposal Service) found its services to be needed approxiamately 1,000 times, regarding all sorts of leftover World War ammunition, ranging from the very small, to the rather large.