Happy ending almost six months after the flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia: In Swisttal, wedding rings that a police officer found in the bulky waste were returned.
The pieces of jewelry have come a long way.
The owners' adult children happily picked them up on Friday.
The rings were discovered by a police officer from Essen who had been deployed in Heimerzheim in July.
"The two rings were on the edge of a large bulky garbage heap on the floor," the police officer reported on Friday.
"After all the destruction and the great suffering of the people, that was a small ray of hope for me," he said.
"Such rings have a high emotional value."
The officer brought the rings to the Euskirchen police.
From there they came to the lost property office of the municipality of Swisttal, where they were kept in a safe.
When the local “General-Anzeiger” reported on Thursday about the abandoned rings with the engraved names “Heinz” and “Christiane”, the relatives of the owners who had died a long time ago became aware.
"Almost all memories are gone"
"Many, many thanks to everyone who got involved, showed their commitment and brought us back such a little memory," said the son, Frank Knepper, on Friday.
Together with his sister, he gave the parents the rings for their 40th wedding anniversary.
The pieces of jewelry were in their parents' house in Heimerzheim, which was flooded in July.
"Almost all memories are gone," says Frank Knepper: "It's all the more beautiful that they have been found."
In addition to the rings, there are many other personal items in the lost property office that were lost due to the flood disaster.
Photos, wristwatches and a pocket watch are still waiting for their owners, said a spokeswoman for the community.