Fire brigade Mönchengladbach crowns the national champion in 2025!

Fire brigade Mönchengladbach crowns the national champion in 2025!

On May 9, 2025, the Mönchengladbach professional fire brigade was crowned for the national championship in a gripping final. The tournament was organized by the Essen professional fire brigade, which gathered a total of 18 teams in the district sports facility Frintroper Wasser tower. The Gladbach team showed an impressive performance and started the tournament with a clear 2-0 victory against the Herne professional fire brigade.

In the following preliminary round games, the Gladbacher Elf faced a challenge. The games against Bielefeld, Essen and Bochum all ended 0-0. Despite these mixed results, the Gladbacher secured the quarter -finals as a group second, with a wafer -thin lead over Bochum. The team had to do without two injured players in the knockout rounds, which increased the challenges for the team.

drama in the quarter -finals

In the quarter -finals, the Gladbacher met the Dortmund professional fire brigade. After an exciting game that ended 1-1, the result in penalty shooting was decided. Here the Gladbacher convinced with strong shooters and an outstanding goalkeeper performance that secured them into the semi -finals.

The semi-finals against the Oberhausen professional fire brigade also successfully for Mönchengladbach, the game ended with a narrow 1-0 victory. With a self -confident game we finally went to the final against the Aachen professional fire brigade. In this gripping duel, the Gladbacher initially took the lead, but Aachen was able to compensate for. In the subsequent penalty shootout it was Gladbach's goalkeeper Thorben Fritzsche, who parried the decisive penalty and thus led the team to the national championship title.

The Mönchengladbach professional fire brigade not only secured the title, but also the qualification for the German Championship of the professional fire brigades in Munich, which will take place in September 2025.

fire brigade in Germany

The success of the Gladbach fire brigade is a bright spot in a diverse fire brigade in Germany. In a total of 107 cities there is a professional fire brigade, which is usually held in larger cities of 100,000 inhabitants, as reported Zeit . In many places, volunteer firefighters also move out to missions. Germany has around 23,000 voluntary fire brigades, with at least one in almost every community.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, professional fire brigades are required for independent cities, while in the east of the country numerous professional fire brigades have remained in smaller cities due to historical conditions. This includes, for example, Altenburg in Thuringia, whose fire brigade was created in the course of former mineral oil works.

The dominance of professional fire brigade structures is further strengthened by numerous specialist and network events, by the German Fire Brigade Association , which are also planned in 2025. These include specialist seminars, championships and exchange programs that promote the commitment and professionalism of the fire brigade.