"We warn Germany": City of Chemnitz takes part in nationwide warning day on 10 September 2020

The city of Chemnitz is taking part in the first nationwide warning day with its warning systems on 10 September. On this joint day of action organised by the federal and state governments, all warning devices will be triggered on a test basis at 11 a.m. under the motto "We warn Germany". The first nationwide warning day will take place every year in September.

The aim of this trial warning is to sensitise the population to the issue of warning in emergency situations. In addition, the various parties involved, such as federal, state and local authorities, as well as the media, practise the procedures involved in warning of danger.

Warning message at 11 a.m. - all-clear at 11.20 a.m.

At 11 a.m., the federal government will send a test warning to all multipliers connected to the Modular Warning System (MoWaS), which is operated by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK). They send the message in the various systems and programmes to end devices such as radios or the NINA warning app. The warning can be heard and read there. As many citizens as possible should be aware of this information.

At the same time, available municipal warning devices (e.g. sirens and loudspeaker vans) will be triggered in the districts and municipalities. The city of Chemnitz will trigger all six motorised sirens in the city area with the warning tone for a warning of danger (six tones, each five seconds long and five seconds pause). Loudspeaker vans will not be used in Chemnitz.

In addition, the twelve voice sirens on the banks of the Würschnitz, Zwönitz and Chemnitz rivers in the districts of Altchemnitz, Harthau, Klaffenbach, Erfenschlag and Einsiedel will emit a voice message. For technical reasons, this will be a general warning of a major incident.

The all-clear will be given at 11.20 a.m. via a continuous tone lasting one minute. The voice sirens along the river courses report "The reported danger no longer exists, you will receive further information in the media." The message that the danger has passed is also issued via the warning apps and in the media such as radio and television.

Warning media of the city of Chemnitz

The aim of the campaign is to inform the population about the topic of warnings. The aim is to make the function and procedure of a warning easier to understand. Warnings can be issued in emergency situations such as floods, severe storms or large-scale power failures. With each warning, the population receives recommendations on what they can do to protect themselves or where they can obtain further information.

The City of Chemnitz provides information in emergencies primarily via its website at www.chemnitz.de and on the social media Twitter and Facebook.

In addition, the city of Chemnitz has also been using the NINA warning app since June. This allows interested parties to receive important civil protection warning messages for various hazardous situations, such as evacuations due to the discovery of a bomb, the spread of hazardous substances, a major fire or warnings of flooding on Chemnitz's 1st order rivers.

The NINA warning app is available for the iOS (version 8.0 or higher) and Android (version 4 or higher) operating systems. It is available free of charge from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. For other operating systems, a website is available at www.warnung.bund.de that has been optimised for mobile use and displays the same warnings as the NINA app. Current weather warnings from the German Weather Service (DWD) and flood information from the federal states can also be accessed here.

• www.chemnitz.de/nina
• www.bundesweiter-warntag.de

Note for the media: Please also note the information on the planned warnings on 10 September via the media, which you will receive from the Federal Ministry of the Interior and/or the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) according to our information.