Flood heroes honored: Salzgitter shows gratitude for emergency services!

Flood heroes honored: Salzgitter shows gratitude for emergency services!

In Salzgitter, the brave emergency services were honored on June 17, 2025 for their tireless use during the difficult flood situation in winter 2023/2024. At a solemn event in the Ratskeller, Mayor Frank Klingebiel salted the floods of the state of Lower Saxony to the leaders of the volunteer fire brigades and aid organizations. An impressive number of a total of 461 emergency services from 27 local fire and various aid organizations was awarded.

The great use of floods, which took place from December 23, 2023 to January 5, 2024, was an enormous challenge not only for the firefighters, but for all active helpers. The focus was on sandbag construction in Salzgitter-Ringelheim to protect the city from the threatening water mass

a concert of helpfulness

These extraordinary missions were not an isolated case. The flood was the result of a rainy autumn, reinforced by the storm low of Zoltan, and led to strongly increased water levels in many Lower Saxony rivers. Minister of the Interior and Sport, Daniela Behrens, emphasized how impressive the use of around 55,000 full-time and volunteers in this crisis was. Neighborhood aid was also provided in the districts of Wolfenbüttel and Hildesheim, while the DLRG water rescue group and diving group offered support in the Heidekreis.

"We are dependent on the volunteers," said Dr. Oliver Liersch, President of the DLRG, determined during the mission. Around 1,500 forces from the DLRG were used, often under difficult weather conditions with constant rain and temperatures only just above freezing. In these critical times, many emergency services had to leave their families behind the holidays to protect the lives of others.

an area -based challenge

Indeed, Lower Saxony experienced the greatest flood in its history. Emergency services not only worked in Salzgitter, but also in areas such as Emsland, Celle and Hanover. Due to the high level of commitment and the cooperation between the fire brigade, DLRG and THW, many people and animals could be helped. "The support that we experienced in the population was enormous," emphasized Liersch.

Now the Lower Saxony state government plans to give the flood badge of honor not only in Salzgitter, but also in other cities. This award is officially presented in the fourth quarter of 2024, and the authorities and volunteer agencies are called to submit appropriate suggestions.

This great community work not only appreciated the people affected, but also goes into the history of Lower Saxony as an example of solidarity and helpfulness.

regionalheute.de reports on the honor of the lifesavers. The [Voluntigenserver] (https://www.breiwilligenserver.de/aktuelles?tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=deta IL & TX_NEWS_PI1%5BController%5D = news & tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5d = 2949 & chash = 18FBD7E260738294B16441646A) emphasizes the impressive number of emergency services and the [Feuerwehrmagazin] (https://www.feuerwehrmagazin.de/nachrichten/news/groesster-hochwasser-der-chichte-in-niedersachsen-dlrg-Zwischen-wedge- between helpers present the record number of helpers during the flood situation. This means that voluntary work in critical situations remains a central concern of society.