At the age of 13, Roland Kircher was significantly involved in the founding of the Düren Youth Fire Brigade. From 1983 to 1989 and from 2000 to 2001, he served as the leader and instructor of the youth fire brigade before being elected district fire chief of Düren-Bedersdorf in 1988. He held this position for 15 years. In addition, he led the fire brigade of the community of Wallerfangen for ten years (2002 to 2012). In 2008, he helped establish the youth fire brigade group for children from the age of eight and was subsequently active there as a supervisor.
As part of his commitment to the fire department, he has also made a special contribution to German-French friendship: at his initiative, not only joint meetings and exercises with firefighters from Luttange in Lorraine have been held, but language courses have also been offered and conducted. This German-French connection has now been maintained and expanded for 23 years.
Interior Minister Reinhold Jost: "Roland Kircher was one of the many emergency personnel who, during the Pentecost flood, ensured the safety of the citizens of Saarland with courage and determination and protected their property. For this, he was recently awarded the Flood Medal of Saarland. But his commitment goes far beyond his outstanding efforts during the flood disaster!"
He said that he had spent most of his life working to ensure security in Saarland. A particularly important aspect of this was his key role in recruiting and training young talent. In this way, he ensured that emergency personnel would be available at the fire department in the future to assist people in emergencies.
“And that’s not all: Roland Kircher has also done exemplary work in cross-border cooperation. Especially with regard to critical events such as the Pentecost flood, such collaborations are an enormously valuable tool for successfully managing these situations. Against this backdrop, Roland Kircher has more than earned the Federal Cross of Merit.”
General Information about the Award
In 1951, two years after the proclamation of the Basic Law and the first elections to the Bundestag after the end of the war, the then Federal President Theodor Heuss established the Federal Cross of Merit.
The foundation of the order is intended to honor political and economic, social and intellectual achievements, as well as special merits for the Federal Republic of Germany or for the common good. In this way, citizens receive an official award for their voluntary work.
For more than 70 years, influential representatives from politics, business, and culture, as well as countless citizens who were politically or socially active in their immediate environment, have received this highest recognition of our country.
