About Feuerwehr Retten Löschen Bergen

Feuerwehr Retten Löschen Bergen

FEUERWEHR Retten Löschen Bergen is Germany's independent specialist magazine for the entire fire-service, fire-protection, and rescue sector, published ten times a year. In its 76th volume in 2026, the magazine serves volunteer and professional firefighters, rescue-service staff, and disaster-protection professionals with gripping mission reports, explained tactics, equipment and training knowledge, and the latest technology — the operational knowledge that the men and women of the fire services carry into every call. As the official bulletin of several state fire-brigade associations, it carries the institutional voice of the German fire service alongside independent journalism.

Overview

FEUERWEHR Retten Löschen Bergen appears ten times a year (with double issues 1/2 and 8/9) and is the cross-regional, independent fire-service and fire-protection specialist magazine. Its ISSN 0500-6260 documents the long periodical record. The 2026 media data reports a print run of 5,000 copies with a distribution (including online) of 5,023; older IVW figures (Q4/2016) recorded 27,193 distributed copies — the title's circulation has consolidated as the print market changed, with the association-bulletin distribution and the digital editions reshaping the reach. In its 76th volume in 2026, the magazine serves volunteer and professional firefighters, rescue-service staff, and disaster-protection professionals with gripping mission reports, explained tactics, equipment and training knowledge, and the latest technology.

The readership spans Germany: responsible persons and specialists in fire brigades, fire protection, rescue services, disaster protection, authorities, associations, ministries, engineering offices, industry, and insurances — the complete ecosystem of organized fire response, from the volunteer firefighter in the village brigade to the ministry official writing the regulations. The magazine is simultaneously the official bulletin (Mitteilungsheft) for the state fire-brigade associations of Brandenburg, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, and Thuringia (Schleswig-Holstein is also named in some sources) — the members' information channel for the organized fire service in those states, carrying association news, mission reports, and announcements to the membership.

History

The magazine's roots go back to 1951 — the early Federal Republic, when the fire services were being rebuilt and professionalized after the war. Since 1990 it appeared as "Unser Brandschutz" (UB), the independent fire-protection journal; in 2003 it was renamed "Feuerwehr – Retten – Löschen – Bergen" under the Huss publishing group (HUSS-MEDIEN, Berlin), with Wolfgang Huss and Christoph Huss as publishers. The renaming marked the title's repositioning as the cross-regional, independent fire-service magazine: no longer just fire protection, but the full triad of the fire service's mission — rescue, extinguish, recover. Since 2003 the title has been regarded as the cross-regional, independent fire-service and fire-protection specialist magazine, working in cooperation with the state fire-brigade associations.

The publishing home has since moved to the FORUM VERLAG HERKERT GMBH of Merching (Mandichostraße 18, 86504 Merching; managing directors Ronald Herkert and Marcus Edholzer), a specialist publisher for professional and association media — the house behind numerous trade and training publications. The editor-in-chief is Stefan Wagner (redaktion@feuerwehrub.de, phone 08233 381-604), leading the editorial team from the Merching offices. The continuity across publishers — from Huss-Medien to Forum Verlag Herkert — has preserved the title's institutional role: the independent journal that is also the associations' bulletin.

Coverage and Content

The content promise is "fesselnde Einsatzberichte und detailliert erklärte Einsatztaktiken" — gripping mission reports and tactics explained in detail. Recent issues illustrate the range: a nightmare scenario when a volunteer fire brigade's own fire station burns (the Unterensingen case), a high-voltage battery fire in an electric vehicle handled by the Aurich fire brigade — the new operational reality of electromobility, where lithium-ion batteries demand entirely new tactics. These mission reports serve the profession's core need: learning from real operations, the case-based training that no manual can replace.

Practical specialist articles cover equipment and training, jurisprudence and standards, and the newest technology — the regulatory and technical knowledge that keeps fire services current, from the latest protective equipment to the evolving standards for vehicle technology. The service section carries current dates of fire brigades and associations, fire-service literature, and useful addresses — the practical infrastructure of the organized fire service. The cooperating state fire-brigade associations report on missions and other news from their states, giving members their institutional information in the same pages as the independent journalism — the dual function that defines the title: independent specialist magazine and associations' bulletin in one.

Organization and Ownership

FEUERWEHR Retten Löschen Bergen is published by the FORUM VERLAG HERKERT GMBH, Mandichostraße 18, 86504 Merching (phone 08233 381-0; service@forumverlag.com; AG Augsburg HRB 20920), with managing directors Ronald Herkert and Marcus Edholzer. The publishing history connects the title to the Huss group of Berlin (HUSS-MEDIEN), under which the 2003 renaming took place — the Huss chronicle records the renaming of "Unser Brandschutz" (UB) to "Feuerwehr – Retten – Löschen – Bergen" as part of the group's Berlin publishing activities, alongside the group's donations for the reconstruction of Dresden's Frauenkirche and its logistics publishing program.

As the official bulletin of the state fire-brigade associations of Brandenburg, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, and Thuringia, the magazine's economics combine association distribution with subscriptions (annual print subscription 60.75 euros plus VAT and shipping; online 47.66 euros; gift subscription 60.75 euros for one year) and advertising from the fire-service equipment industry — the manufacturers of vehicles, protective gear, and extinguishing technology who need to reach the decision-makers of the fire services. The senior media and sales management (Judith Gratias, Anita Hafen-Rutka) handle the advertising business from the Merching offices. Circulation figures beyond the stated numbers and financial details are not publicly confirmed.

Digital Presence

The magazine's website, feuerwehr-ub.de (the "UB" recalling the "Unser Brandschutz" heritage), presents the title online with the media data, subscription information, and editorial contacts. The Forum Verlag shop (shop.forum-verlag.com) sells the subscription — ten issues per year including e-paper of all issues and archive access to previous e-papers, rated 4.85 out of 5 by readers who praise it as "interesting, educational, and always up to date." The September 2026 issue is presented with its table of contents and reading samples, and selected specialist contributions are available free of charge.

The subscription model includes the e-paper and archive access, giving readers the digital complement to the print issues — the complete run of recent years searchable and portable, for the firefighter who wants the tactics article on the tablet at the station. Selected specialist contributions are available free of charge, and the publisher produces an explanatory video about the magazine. For a profession where operational knowledge saves lives — the tactics explained in the mission reports, the standards updates, the equipment knowledge — the magazine's combination of gripping reportage, practical training content, and the associations' institutional voice keeps it the fire service's working journal: the title that has accompanied German firefighters from 1951 to the electric-vehicle age, from the post-war reconstruction of the fire services to the high-voltage challenges of today.

The editorial leadership is in the hands of editor-in-chief Stefan Wagner (redaktion@feuerwehrub.de, phone 08233 381-604), supported by the senior media and sales team — Judith Gratias for sales and strategy, Anita Hafen-Rutka as senior sales manager — who connect the fire-service equipment industry's advertisers with the magazine's readership of decision-makers across the fire services, authorities, and ministries.

From the volunteer firefighter's station to the ministry's desk, the magazine reaches every level of the organized fire service — the operational knowledge, the association news, and the industry's latest technology, delivered ten times a year to the profession that runs toward the fire.