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Dernau After The Flood
For ZEIT ONLINE
2021 – ongoing
Dernau is located in the middle of the Ahr valley in Western Germany. The vineyards reach up to the garden fences of the higher houses, and some of the vines grow down to the river bank. Dernau has its own train station, and it is known for its location on the red wine trail and its wine festival at the end of September. And now also for a flood that is considered one of the worst natural disasters in recent German history. On the night of July 14/15th 2021, eleven people died in Dernau, bridges were torn down, and buildings and cars were destroyed. Most of the houses were underwater.

What does a disaster of this magnitude do to a village where everyone knows everyone? How do you rebuild it? And what will change forever? With ZEIT ONLINE we accompanied locals in Dernau over the course of a year.

Picture editors: Andreas Prost & Dorothea Fiedler

Writers: Katrin Blum, Alexander Krex, Katharina Meyer zu Eppendorf, Sara Tomšić