Frankfurt am Main (ots) –
There were strong messages from politics at the 71st delegate meeting of the German Fire Brigade Association (DFV) in Frankfurt am Main. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, Hesse’s Interior Minister Prof. Dr. Roman Poseck and Frankfurt Mayor Mike Josef spoke to the 173 delegates from fire service associations from all over Germany. DFV President Karl-Heinz Banse gave an account to the representatives of the DFV member associations and commented on current priorities. Specialist lectures on the “German Operational Plan” and the current elections complemented the conference, at which a new vice president was elected and a federal representative was approved.
“I take my hat off to your incredible commitment!” Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser praised the commitment of the fire brigade members, which is mainly carried out on a voluntary basis. “We need to think about recognizing your commitment in a different way, beyond words of thanks,” she explained. Faeser showed her incomprehension about violence against emergency services: “We cannot tolerate attacks and insults in any way. As a state, we are massively opposed to this at federal, state and local levels.” She appealed to the political representatives to pass the law to tighten penalties for attacks on emergency services together in the Bundestag. Faeser thanked the fire departments for their efforts – including in the projects of the “Cohesion through Participation” program and in the youth fire departments – for conveying democratic values.
“We have to send a clear message to society about how reprehensible attacks are – ultimately these are attacks on all of us!” said the Hessian Interior Minister Prof. Dr. Roman Poseck. He also emphasized that it is important to prevent excessive demands from bureaucracy, especially in small fire departments. Poseck appealed to the fire departments to “use the potential of diversity in our society.” Mike Josef, Mayor of Frankfurt am Main, was enthusiastic about the fire brigade’s commitment: “In almost no other area have I experienced such profound camaraderie – the fire brigade family is there for each other.”
DFV President Karl-Heinz Banse used the opportunity to appeal to the federal government not to cut funding for internal security: “We must have the necessary equipment to be deployed. Talk to us, to the fire departments, in order to be able to proceed in a targeted and planned manner in order to be able to purchase the things that we need!” The fire brigades are the first organization to be called in almost all critical situations: “We live in the situation, are able to act and find solutions,” he stated. Nevertheless, greater resilience among the population is necessary: on the one hand, this reduces the number of requests for help in a disaster and, on the other hand, it also reduces verbal attacks and violence towards emergency services when people take out their helplessness on the helpers. The DFV President reiterated the importance of a joint museum of the German fire brigades and the Federal Association of Technical Relief Organizations in order to safeguard the history of these important parts of society and historically democratic movements – there should be funds from the “KulturInvest” program in the planned federal budget .
In his impressive presentation, Lieutenant General André Bodemann, Commander of the Territorial Command of the Bundeswehr, explained what challenges the fire departments could face as part of the Germany Operational Plan. He described the fire brigade members as “first responders” whose commitment is needed so that life in Germany can continue. He drew a realistic picture of the tasks, from temporary support to possible major damage situations and hybrid threats. “What is practiced works. What is practiced is credible and deters,” summed up the lieutenant general.
Dr. Viola Neu, expert for election, opinion and party research at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, analyzed “Germany after the elections” in her presentation. “We have to do everything we can to ensure that it’s not just pessimism that moves people’s minds,” she explained. It is important to think systematically about life chances: social situations lead to certain voting behavior.
As part of the 71st delegate meeting, the “IF Star” was awarded as a prize for innovative fire departments by the Association of Public Insurers and the DFV. Information on this will be published at.
In the association part of the event, Teresa Tiszbierek, Vice President of the Association of Voluntary Fire Brigades of the Republic of Poland, emphasized the importance of international cooperation, also against the background of joint initiatives on the European stage. The long-standing DFV federal representative for fire service pastoral care, fire department pastor Erneli Martens, was farewelled from her position with a “fire bear”. Since Karl-Heinz Frank, Vice President for the Professional Fire Department, is stepping down from his position at the end of the year, a successor has been elected to the Presidium of the German Fire Brigade Association: Axel Schuh, Head of the Leipzig Fire Department, will take over the office on January 1, 2025. Frank was included was awarded the German Fire Brigade Cross of Honor in Gold and was made an honorary member of the DFV. As part of the association’s formalities, Berthold Berenz, Antje Hertel and Maik Zinser were elected for the audit. The 72nd delegate meeting of the German Fire Brigade Association is scheduled to take place in Quedlinburg (Saxony-Anhalt) in 2025.
The state evening organized by the Hesse State Fire Brigade Association with the support of the Frankfurt am Main Fire Department had already taken place on Friday. Here DFV and LFV Vice President Dr. Christoph Weltecke was awarded the German Fire Brigade Cross of Honor in Gold. Both events were musically accompanied by fire brigade music from Hesse. An ecumenical service took place before the delegate meeting.
The 71st delegate meeting of the German Fire Brigade Association took place with the kind support of Mercedes Benz AG and Telekom Deutschland GmbH. Pictures of the event are available at.
Press contact:
German Fire Brigade Association e. V. (DFV)
Press and public relations
Silvia Oestreicher
Telephone: 030-28 88 48 823
Email: oestreicher@dfv.org
feuerwehrverband.de
facebook.com/112willkommen
x.com/FeuerwehrDFV
Original content from: German Fire Brigade Association e. V. (DFV), transmitted by news aktuell
Original message:
