The fire brigade spoke of millions in damage when they were called to a water ingress at Giesecke & Devrient in Steinhausen last weekend. The group for security technology itself but softens. A good week later, the extent of the damage is still not certain, but “we cannot currently confirm that it is well into the seven-digit range,” said spokeswoman Ulrike Woenckhaus.
About 3,500 square meters in the middle part of the building complex are affected. There, a burst water pipe in a false ceiling on the fourth floor caused water to pour through ceilings and down stairs into the basement, flooding offices and laboratories. However, because the security personnel reacted quickly on the night of the accident and covered expensive special machines with tarpaulins, they remained undamaged.
70 firefighters pumped the water out of the building in a six-hour operation with ten suction cups. Giesecke & Devrient produces banknotes, but also cash processing systems and digital payment technologies.