Last Sunday, 23 October, UFA organized a hiking day in the Ahr Valley to once again draw attention to the devastated region and its inhabitants after the flood disaster last summer. More than 30 UFA employees from Cologne, together with their children, mastered six kilometers on the red wine hiking trail in Rech, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition, the participating UFA colleagues donated 1,200 euros for the reconstruction of the community, after UFA had already supported the community of Rech with 15,000 euros last year.

The hiking day, through autumnal vineyards, was organized by the UFA task force led by Guido Reinhardt, Anke Molzberger and Hendrik Voß. It was intended as further sustainable support for the flood victims and to make a confident contribution to ensuring that the flood victims are not forgotten. All participants paid a contribution towards expenses, which will be donated 1:1 to the municipality of Rech for reconstruction.

“On the one hand a beautiful, sunny day with nice colleagues, on the other hand the still visible destruction of the village of Rech and the other places on the Ahr – a very special contrast that touches me very much. We hope to be able to help at least a little with our support,” says Anke Molzberger, Head of Production at the UFA Serial Drama production UNTER UNS and member of the UFA Taskforce.

On the day of the hike, many of the participating colleagues are in Rech for the first time since the flood and are confronted with how bad the state of the community still is after a year and a half. “Not much has happened here yet, only the canal is new,” says Mara Heindi, producer for UNTER UNS. “Unbureaucratic – nobody can hear that word here anymore. What about humanity, these are our direct fellow citizens?” she asks herself on behalf of many.

Mr. Schreier, first alderman of the municipality of Rech, reports on how slow and difficult the decision-making processes in Rech are or are not: “The linchpin for any construction planning in Rech is the question of what should happen to the historic and partially destroyed Nepomuk Bridge and where the replacement bridge will be located. Without this planning basis, it is impossible to plan a road network or even the spaces between the roads. We have now received a message from the monument protection authority that they want to wait for a further expert opinion, which was commissioned by the German Foundation for Monument Protection, before making a decision. This report is available in a short version without any basis for calculation. It is not clear when the long version will be available, which means that further planning for Rech will be delayed indefinitely.”

Guido Reinhardt, producer of UFA Serial Drama and UFA Taskforce member, remains in contact with Rech to this day: “We regularly call the community to find out how we can help from ‘outside’. We want to make a lasting commitment to ensuring that the victims of the flood disaster are not forgotten and continue to receive support. That’s how the idea for our hiking day came about.”

The UFA Hiking Day raised 1,200 euros, which was donated to the local association “Fluthilfe und Wiederaufbau Rech e.V.”.

The two-hour hike in Rech was rounded off with a wine tasting in the St. Nepomuk wine cellar in Rech.

The municipality of Rech, like many other places in NRW and Rhineland-Palatinate, was almost completely destroyed by the flood disaster in July 2021, and the effects are still clearly visible today. Last year, UFA employees took the initiative to help directly on site immediately after the flood disaster and formed a task force to provide targeted assistance in severely affected regions. After many discussions with the community and those affected, it became clear that the greatest fear and apprehension, apart from the enormous willingness to help, was that of being forgotten after a certain time: Being forgotten again after a certain period of time. In this respect, it was immediately clear to the members of the UFA Taskforce that they wanted to make a sustainable and long-term commitment. Support for the reconstruction of the historic community center seemed to the task force to be the right project, and last year the UFA donated 15,000 euros to the municipality of Rech for its reconstruction. By organizing the hiking day, the task force, together with many other colleagues, is drawing attention to the fact that the flood victims continue to need permanent support.

Guido Reinhardt, Anke Molzberger, Hendrik Voß, Mara Heindi and Janine Lenze are members of the UFA Taskforce.