After a welcome address by Mayor and Fire Department Director Friedrich Marx and a shared meal, a special moment of remembrance followed. In his speech, Marx paid tribute to the four deceased members of the Senior and Honorary Division. Those present joined together to honor their memory.
Fire Chief Jörg Riemer then addressed the firefighters and guests. Other speakers that evening included Mayor Frank Frühauf, District Administrator Miroslaw Kowalski, and Fire and Disaster Protection Inspector Lukas Klein. During his remarks, the district administrator also presented a donation.
Awards for Long-Term Service
A special highlight of the fellowship evening was the presentation of awards for long-standing, active, and dedicated service with the fire department. Mayor Friedrich Marx and Mayor Frank Frühauf presented the awards together with the respective officials.
Devin Silva and Moritz Veeck were awarded the Bronze Fire Department Medal of Honor for 15 years of active, dedicated service.
Milena Frühauf, Thomas Junker, Christoph Messer, Sven Steuer, and Isabella Wobito received the Silver Fire Department Medal of Honor for 25 years of service.
Thorsten Enke and André Vohl were awarded the Golden Fire Department Medal of Honor for 35 years of service.
Edgar Huwer, Tomislav Rakuljic, Dr. Walter-Georg Veeck, and Martin Weber received the Golden Fire Department Medal of Honor for 45 years of service.
Special honors were presented to Stefan Weber for his 50 years of active and dedicated service with the fire department, and to Karl-Albert Schneider for his 30 years of service as shift supervisor at Fire Station 2.
In addition, Mayor Friedrich Marx himself was honored for his many years of service to the fire department. To his surprise, Michael Dick of the District Fire Department Association and Udo Cornesse of the State Fire Department Association awarded the long-serving fire department director of the city of Idar-Oberstein the German Fire Department Medal of Honor.
Commitments and Promotions
The awards ceremony was followed by the swearing-in of new firefighters and numerous promotions. Mayor Friedrich Marx presided over the appointments and presented the corresponding certificates.
The following individuals were sworn in for active firefighting duty: Damien Brust, Marc Bühl, Steffen Frech, Marcel Grimm, Jessika Käding, Noah Knab, Felix Reichardt, Vanessa Rossol, Emily Schneider, and Emily Zimmermann.
Zoe Inboden was appointed as a female firefighter, and Niclas Stiltz, Silas Stiltz, and Elias Werner were appointed as male firefighters.
Marcel Krummenauer and Jan Mayer were promoted to senior firefighter.
Lisa Fleischhacker and Maja Hartenberger were promoted to senior female firefighter, while Tom Kluge, Maik Maring, Fabian Peter, Luca Schmidt, Tobias Stingl, and Elias Witt were promoted to senior male firefighter.
Jens Altvater, Alexander Klein, Christopher Lang, and Marvin Ruppert were promoted to fire captain.
Alexander Messer and Tomislav Rakuljic were promoted to senior fire captain.
Isabella Wobito was appointed Chief Firefighter, and Florian Lofi, Sascha Molter, and Dannis Schneider were appointed Chief Firefighters.
The agenda also included additional appointments to leadership and specialized roles. Milena Frühauf was appointed fire captain, and Marlon Frech was also appointed fire captain. Mario Hippchen and Denny Risch were appointed senior fire captains.
Farewell to Distinguished Firefighters
A particularly emotional part of the evening was the farewell ceremony for four long-serving firefighters retiring from active duty. Mayor Friedrich Marx paid tribute to the service of Rainer Heu, Hans-Jörg Lofi, Martin Weber, and Stefan Weber. As a token of gratitude and appreciation, each of the retiring firefighters received a certificate and a figurine of St. Florian. In addition, the fire stations presented them with personal gifts. These included, among other things, a firefighter’s helmet signed by their fellow firefighters. The wives were also presented with bouquets of flowers to honor their support and encouragement during their husbands’ many years of active service with the fire department.
At the conclusion of the comradeship evening, Mayor Frank Frühauf and Mayor Friedrich Marx presented the members of the Senior and Honorary Division with a gift as a token of appreciation and solidarity.
(You can find a report with all the photos from the social evening on the Volunteer Fire Department's website at www.feuerwehr-idar-oberstein.de)