Missing Since WWII: German Fire Department’s Banner Comes Back After 80 Years

Nearly 80 years after a fire department’s historic parade banner disappeared during World War II in Gemany, it was located in an Arizona fire museum, and was returned home.

At the end of World War II, the town of Wiescherhöfen, in Westphalia, Germany, was bombed. The series of bombings in 1944 leveled the fire department, along with the rest of town. Lost in the destruction was a 1929 German parade banner that represented civic duty and the greater good.

The Wiescherhöfen Fire Department was located in the basement level of a pub, where people took refuge during the bombing. When the first wave hit, the people taking shelter at the fire department were trapped, but another wave of bombings hit, freeing the trapped victims.

In October 2024, the piece was finally returned to its rightful owners after the banner’s storied history was discovered by the Hall of Flame Museum in Phoenix. The path of the banner is a long one, but one that should be highlighted because of the sense of sanctity and unity provided by the return.

The velvet banner had an image of a firefighter wearing the tradional German firefighting apparel from that era. Written on the double-sidded banner their motto, "Gott zur Ehr dem Nächsten zur Wehr!” which translaters to "God to honor, neighbor to defend!"

Banner purchased by dealer by museum

The banner was first acquired by the Hall of Flame Museum founder George Getz, Jr. from an antiques dealer in London. It found itself in storage for quite some time at the museum until the now retired Hall of Flame Museum Executive Director Peter Malloy came across it.

In 2016, the piece was restored by textile conservator Martha Grimm at the direction of Malloy. This was with the intention of displaying it in the museum. Volunteers built a display case for the banner, and they began to display it in Galley One and share it online.

Throughout its time on display, people from Wiescherhöfen discovered that their thought-to be-destroyed piece of history was recovered and existed in the United States. The curator of education at the Hall of Flame Museum, Mark Moorhead, wasn’t sure how they found out about the piece, but it was communicated that they wanted the banner to be returned home.

"They were very gracious, very respectful, and very kind. They kind of quietly said, ‘could we have it back?’ They offered to trade us stuff.  I sort of thought this was a case where, this maybe should go back,” Moorhead told Firehouse.com

From there, Moorhead reached out to Robert Edsel, founder of the Monuments Men and Women Foundation, about the banner, and Edsel was interested in investigating the piece a bit more. Moorhead did some research, and all parties eventually agreed to return the flag to Germany.

Return was a unique scenario

This was an uncommon case for the Monuments Men and Women Foundation, because, typically, artifacts do not get sent back to Germany that are associated with World War II because a lot of them have Nazi propaganda or political aspects. Fortunately this fire department banner was apolitical.

The Hall of Flame sent the banner to the Monuments Men and Women Foundation to negotiate a return through the U.S. Department of State and the Wiescherhöfen Department that took about a year. After the agreement, a ceremony took place at the German Embassy in Washington D.C., where the Getz family, Moorhead, various fire departments, including some from Washington D.C. and about 10 German firefighters in dress uniforms convened to sign over the piece of art.

“It made me realize how this is, in a very, very small way, one more little step in healing the terrible ruins of that war,” said Moorhead. “It's been our great privilege at the Hall of Flame to display this banner, but it's an even greater privilege to see it go home.”

The Hamm-Wiescherhöfen Fire Department showed their gratitude by hosting a giant buffet at the ceremony, along with gifting the Hall of Flame Museum a working German fire siren. It was even tested within the courtyard of the embassy. Moorhead, with a laugh, was interested in what the neighbors were thinking when it went off.

The banner has landed in the original owners’ hands, and now will live on continuing its meaning and honor within the Hamm-Wiescherhöfen Fire Department.

Unit Leader Henrik Volmar of the Hamm-Wiescherhöfen Fire Department spoke on what it means to have the flag returned to them.

“The volunteer fire department in Germany is very tradition-conscious. In some cases, several generations in a row have been involved in the fire department. Many members of our fire department have grandfathers and great-grandfathers who acquired and held this flag," Volmar told Firehouse.com. "The fact that this flag, long thought to be lost forever, has suddenly resurfaced, is a remarkable stroke of luck."

“There was no way to return it by mail. We are therefore grateful to the Monuments Men and Women Foundation, whose efforts made this return possible, for the great honor of allowing us to personally bring the flag back to its homeland. We plan to keep the flag in a display case at our firehouse, along with a description of its history and the long journey it has taken. A piece of history returns to its homeland," said Volmar.