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6 February 2026
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Fire stations of the world: Saerbeck Volunteer Fire Brigade: Sinningen Fire Station, Germany
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The Sinningen Fire Station of the Saerbeck Volunteer Fire Brigade (Freiwilligen Feuerwehr Saerbeck) in Germany is based in a windmill. The windmill at Hof Eilers was built in 1866 in Saerbeck, Germany. In 2000 it was restored and has been used by the Fire Brigade Sinningen of the Volunteer Fire Brigade Saerbeck, as a fire station.
History of the Voluntary Fire Brigade Sinningen
The fire brigade was also a precursor to the voluntary fire brigade in Sinningen. All male residents between the ages of 18 and 50 had to participate. They had to take part in the specified exercises in spring and autumn. Those who were absent without an excuse, were punished by the police. The fire brigade exercises were announced by a public call by the then policeman Dütsch and by a notice in the lattice box in the office building.
In the beginning, leather buckets were used as fire extinguishers. Every household was required to have a marked fire bucket. The bucket was stamped by the blacksmith Josef Wenners in Saerbeck and cost five pfennigs. Anyone who failed to show such a bucket at the fire shows was punished by law.
During a fire brigade exercise, the names of the missing persons were first determined. Then the individual teams equipped themselves with their equipment. The climbing team got ladders and ripping hooks. The crew to operate the pumper fetched the manual pressure pumper and positioned it. The crew to fetch the water (water carriers) lined up with their leather buckets. The remaining members formed the regulatory department.
At a meeting of community representatives on 12 September 1908, Hoegg, the bailiff at the time, expressed the opinion that the defences of the Sinningen and Westladbergen farming communities could be eliminated and that the village defences should be strengthened. The community representatives, however, had a different opinion and so the division of compulsory defence was retained. A list of members from 1910 shows that the village fire brigade had 188 members, the Westladbergen fire brigade 74 and the Sinningen fire brigade 66 members.
In the spring of 1910, the Sinning family decided to set up their own, independent, voluntary fire brigade. The background was probably a large heath fire that spread from Middendorfer Feld to Sinninger Feld. There must have been differences in the extinguishing measures that were not accepted by the citizens of Sinning.
The Saerbeck office requested the requirements for a voluntary fire brigade. The district administrator in Münster then made a draft of the statutes available. Then, on 29 May 1910, a general meeting was scheduled, which took place at the innkeeper Ontrup (later Molkenbuer, in the immediate vicinity of the Ems). One person from each household should appear. It didn't take long for the assembly to agree to the bylaws. The first board of directors of the voluntary fire brigade in Sinningen was then elected.
It consisted of:
Captain: August Eilers (fire chief)
Secretary: Bernhard Ontrup
Treasurer: Franz Wermert
Equipment manager: Viktor Ruhmöller
Assessors: Franz Greiling, Clemens Glanemann, August Wegmann and Felix Wiechmann
The statutes were signed by the board of directors and sent to the district office. On 12 September 1910, approval for the Sinningen Volunteer Fire Brigade was confirmed by the Münster District Office.
Sources: Freiwilligen Feuerwehr Saerbeck
History of the Voluntary Fire Brigade Sinningen
The fire brigade was also a precursor to the voluntary fire brigade in Sinningen. All male residents between the ages of 18 and 50 had to participate. They had to take part in the specified exercises in spring and autumn. Those who were absent without an excuse, were punished by the police. The fire brigade exercises were announced by a public call by the then policeman Dütsch and by a notice in the lattice box in the office building.
In the beginning, leather buckets were used as fire extinguishers. Every household was required to have a marked fire bucket. The bucket was stamped by the blacksmith Josef Wenners in Saerbeck and cost five pfennigs. Anyone who failed to show such a bucket at the fire shows was punished by law.
During a fire brigade exercise, the names of the missing persons were first determined. Then the individual teams equipped themselves with their equipment. The climbing team got ladders and ripping hooks. The crew to operate the pumper fetched the manual pressure pumper and positioned it. The crew to fetch the water (water carriers) lined up with their leather buckets. The remaining members formed the regulatory department.
At a meeting of community representatives on 12 September 1908, Hoegg, the bailiff at the time, expressed the opinion that the defences of the Sinningen and Westladbergen farming communities could be eliminated and that the village defences should be strengthened. The community representatives, however, had a different opinion and so the division of compulsory defence was retained. A list of members from 1910 shows that the village fire brigade had 188 members, the Westladbergen fire brigade 74 and the Sinningen fire brigade 66 members.
In the spring of 1910, the Sinning family decided to set up their own, independent, voluntary fire brigade. The background was probably a large heath fire that spread from Middendorfer Feld to Sinninger Feld. There must have been differences in the extinguishing measures that were not accepted by the citizens of Sinning.
The Saerbeck office requested the requirements for a voluntary fire brigade. The district administrator in Münster then made a draft of the statutes available. Then, on 29 May 1910, a general meeting was scheduled, which took place at the innkeeper Ontrup (later Molkenbuer, in the immediate vicinity of the Ems). One person from each household should appear. It didn't take long for the assembly to agree to the bylaws. The first board of directors of the voluntary fire brigade in Sinningen was then elected.
It consisted of:
Captain: August Eilers (fire chief)
Secretary: Bernhard Ontrup
Treasurer: Franz Wermert
Equipment manager: Viktor Ruhmöller
Assessors: Franz Greiling, Clemens Glanemann, August Wegmann and Felix Wiechmann
The statutes were signed by the board of directors and sent to the district office. On 12 September 1910, approval for the Sinningen Volunteer Fire Brigade was confirmed by the Münster District Office.
Sources: Freiwilligen Feuerwehr Saerbeck