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Frank Knepper and Rita Knepper with their parents' wedding rings: Important memorabilia
Photo: Roberto Pfeil / dpa
Mud, dirt and piles of rubbish everywhere - and yet a police officer found two wedding rings in the bulky waste in the chaos that had left the flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Now, almost six months later, there is at least one small happy ending: In Swisttal, the adult children of the owners who passed away a long time ago happily accepted the jewelry.
For them, the rings are important mementos.
The rings were discovered by a policeman from Essen who was deployed in Heimerzheim in July.
"The two rings were on the edge of a large bulky waste heap on the floor," the policeman reported.
"After all the destruction and the great suffering of the people, that was a small ray of hope for me," he said: "Such rings have a high emotional value."
"Almost all memories are gone"
The officer brought the rings to the Euskirchen police.
From there they came to the lost property office of the municipality of Swisttal, where they were kept in a safe.
When the local “General-Anzeiger” reported on Thursday about the abandoned rings with the engraved names “Heinz” and “Christiane”, the relatives of the owners who had died a long time ago became aware.
"Many, many thanks to everyone who got involved, showed their commitment and brought us back such a little memory," said the son, Frank Knepper.
Together with his sister, he gave the parents the rings for their 40th wedding anniversary.
The jewelery was in her parents' house in Heimerzheim, which was flooded in July.
"Almost all memories are gone," says Frank Knepper: "It's all the better that they have been found."
In addition to the rings, there are many other personal items in the lost property office that were lost due to the flood disaster.
Photos, wristwatches and a pocket watch are still waiting for their owners, said a spokeswoman for the community.
ptz / dpa
