After the flood in the Ahr valley: “The first party without grandma”

The people in the Ahr Valley experienced terrible things during the flood in July – and lost a lot. Now at Christmas it becomes particularly clear to those affected what is missing.

When Ursula Hellmuth thinks of all the wonderful family celebrations in her parlor, a smile flits across her face. In the next moment, however, her eyes also fill with tears. “Here was always our decorated Christmas tree with the beautiful, colorful balls, here the large banquet table, there was always room for everyone,” she says.

The 76-year-old stands in her former living room with a flashlight in her hand. Exactly where she used to traditionally celebrate Christmas Day with her partner, two children and four grandchildren. Now, as in the entire house, there is no more light and no windows in the room. Volunteers have knocked the plaster off the walls in the past few months. In one corner is a large yellow garbage can, in another a mountain of bricks, next to it the remains of the demolished winter garden.

The house is being demolished

Nobody will celebrate Christmas here anymore – and nothing else either. Even if you don’t look at the walls, they are contaminated with poison and heating oil. “Economic total loss,” said the man from the insurance company. The house is to be demolished at the beginning of the new year. Only memories remain for Ursula Hellmuth, the flood didn’t even leave her a single photo of her family. Not to mention the beloved Christmas decorations or handicrafts by the children and grandchildren.

Hellmuth currently lives in Kesseling with her 81-year-old partner. In a holiday apartment, around a quarter of an hour by car from your house. It is her fourth place to stay since the floods took everything away from her in mid-July. The apartment is nice and bright. There is an Advent wreath on the living room table. However, there is no room here for a celebration with the whole family. It is unclear who from the family will come by and when. She agreed with her daughter that they would spontaneously decide when to see each other at Christmas.

They all got somewhere

“Everything has gotten so complicated,” says Hellmuth. In the past, the houses of her, her daughter and an adult grandson were right next to each other. The son lived with his family in Altenburg within sight. Now they are all in some holiday apartments in the region – widely scattered. Seeing each other spontaneously, coming over for a coffee, that’s no longer possible. And somehow there is a certain speechlessness in her family at the moment when it comes to the flood, says the 76-year-old.

Refuel in the supply tent

To talk, Hellmuth drives to the supply tent in Altenburg every day. It’s not far from her previous house, right next to the school where she worked as a secretary for a long time. Here, those affected by the flood can not only stock up on everything they need materially. There is also a warm lunch and an open ear every day. Volunteers have decorated the tables with fir green, white Christmas stars and golden balls. In one corner of the tent there is a Christmas tree with blue balls between crates of drinks.

“The helpers try so hard with us,” says Marieluise Gasper, a friend of Ursula Hellmuth. Her husband died shortly before the flood disaster, then the flood also stole her house and all of her belongings. She has lived in a state of emergency since the summer, says the woman from Altenburg. Now, shortly before Christmas, it is particularly difficult to endure. When it gets dark early and life inevitably takes place indoors, you get even more brooding than usual. She shouldn’t even think about the balance sheet for this year, says the 74-year-old. “But I’m not alone there,” she says and makes an extravagant movement through the supply tent with her arm. They all feel the same – and “that we can share that helps a little”. The fears of Christmas in a state of emergency are also endured here together.

Fir branches on the site fence

In Dernau, around twelve kilometers away, people are trying to carry each other through the difficult end of the year. Many have decorated their homes, even those that are currently no longer habitable. There are Christmas trees everywhere in town. Craftsman Sebastian Tetzlaff also decorated the fence in front of his property with fir branches and red ribbons. There is a brightly lit Christmas tree next to his trailer. Like so many others in the wine-growing community in the Ahr Valley, the craftsman had to tear down his house and workshop. In Dernau, the flood destroyed 542 of the 612 houses, some of them massively. Tetzlaff says that the lights of the Christmas trees mean that it is finally not so dark in town at night. The street lighting in the Ahr Valley is still not working in many municipalities more than five months after the flood.

Still, the 37-year-old doesn’t really feel like Christmas. He lost his former wife’s mother on the night of the flood. He heard her cries for help from the neighboring house, but could not save her. Traumatic experiences like this are slowly coming up for many people in the Ahr valley. “In the beginning I didn’t feel anything, simply nothing at all, I felt like I was wrapped in cotton wool, I just worked,” says Dernauer. Now that the state of shock is slowly subsiding, so much is coming up, especially just before Christmas. “You somehow have certain memories like you’ve always done. This year the main topic for us is: The first party without grandma – unfortunately that means that you sleep even less.”

Many people feel like Sebastian Tetzlaff. More than 180 people died in the flood disaster in July in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Volunteers from all over Germany are still trying to support the people in the flood areas as best they can – even and especially during the difficult Christmas season for many. In the beginning they mainly tackled the tidying up and cleaning, in Advent countless aid transports with homemade biscuits, Christmas parcels and gifts arrived in the communities. This feeling of not being forgotten comforts the people in the Ahr Valley.

The dream of the banquet table

Until the flood disaster, she did not know how good and selfless people could be, says Ursula Hellmuth. A nice feeling that she hopes will help her through the heavy holidays. In addition, the 76-year-old has the absolute will to be able to return to her home town.

She wants to build again after the demolition of her house in Altenburg. Maybe a prefabricated house, she doesn’t care. Your new home just needs to have a large living room again – with plenty of space for a large festive table, at which the whole family can gather again on Christmas and other holidays. Sometime.