One year after the flood in the Eifel: “It’s a tour de force”

Bad Münstereifel is one of the places that was hit by the flood a year ago. The Reinartz family’s café is still closed. They remain optimistic, but have given up the fight for financial aid.

You look out the same window at the Erft as you did a year ago. The memories come right back. “The water rose and rose,” says Christiane Reinartz. “It happened so quickly when the water ran to the bottom floor and we had no choice but to flee to the upper floors.” The café owner from Bad Münstereifel stayed up there with her daughters until it was over, until the water had calmed down again, until they could leave their house and go to their hometown, which looked different from then on.

Even today, many individual construction sites and renovation work are reminiscent of the flood of the century from last summer. When the Erft, which was actually small, became a torrent and washed away the old historic city center with its half-timbered houses and picturesque cobblestones, destroying everything that stood in its way.

“We are optimistic about the future”

Since then they have been rebuilding, putting all their savings into their private homes and into the shops. “It’s a tour de force,” says Christiane Reinartz, “but we’re optimistic about the future.” In their old storage room, where they store old materials, leftovers from before the flood, they show muddy glasses, forks, cups. “That too is now part of the history of this house. It can be shown.”

Therefore, they want to exhibit these things in a showcase in their café after the reopening. Then when Christiane and Rolf Reinartz can reopen their shop, their café. But that will take time. “We still have no electricity and no water up there,” says Rolf Reinartz. They are full of hope, above all they can see that progress is being made on the bottom floor. Craftsmen who were hard to come by are working to get their shop in order so they can at least start selling again.

Majority of stores reopened

They are full of planning will, full of action. Like all of Bad Münstereifel. Most of the shops have already reopened. But it is also clear that the city is still full of construction sites. Many corners are still being built and restored. For many it still remains incomprehensible: how the little river, the Erft, which flows through the old historic city center, could become such a torrent.

It’s definitely a scenario that the city and its mayor never want to see again. “It’s still an overall construction site,” emphasizes Sabine Preiser-Marian from the CDU. “Even if we can already see that more than 50 percent of the shops here have reopened, which is also good. We need bright spots.” When rebuilding, she would also struggle with a shortage of materials and craftsmen. But plans to modernize the city, which existed even before the night of the flood, are helping to advance the challenge in a targeted manner. Now they want to look ahead.

City celebrates commemoration

This weekend, the city plans to hold a memorial service to mark the anniversary of the disaster. There are numerous actions, exhibitions and a photo gallery that captured the days.

But many saw it as a lottery game. Who isn’t found with more damage? Who gets financial help? Where is it unbureaucratic? For example, André Koenigs, a fashion shop owner just a few shops down from the Christiane Reinartz Café, tells us that his clothing store was completely destroyed. It has only just reopened.

It was a long, arduous journey to get the money for the reconstruction, he says. Uninsured, he needed several hundred thousand euros to save his existence. The application process was “a mess” and cost him “many, many phone calls and correspondence”. But in the end the money came.

“Everything will be fine”

The Reinartz family can also report problems. They gave up, packed their applications in a box and put them aside. Too many hurdles, too much bureaucracy. “We’ve been living on credit since July 14, 2021. But I’m trying to ignore that. Everything will be fine,” explains Christiane Reinartz. And yet she felt alone, which made her angry. “So at some point I got help. A coach.” To exchange ideas with him, to experience life support, that does her good.

Above all, as a family, they support each other – together with their four children. “It’s amazing what my mother and my parents have done in the last few months,” emphasizes the 15-year-old daughter. That somehow makes everyone proud. Daughter, father and also mother Christiane, who again and again draws this conclusion for herself: “We lost a lot materially, but gained a lot personally.”