Poisonous snakes and spiders on the wrong track have kept emergency services in the Saarland Schiffweiler in suspense.
A poisonous horned viper was first discovered in front of an apartment building on Wednesday.
It is said to belong to a resident who has not been home for a long time.
Since it could not be ruled out that other and possibly poisonous animals had escaped, 16 residents had to leave the building, as the mayor of the community, Markus Fuchs, said in the evening.
Emergency services opened the animal owner's apartment and inspected it together with an expert.
According to initial information, they found a second poisonous snake loose in the apartment and several apparently poisonous spiders, some of which were in a terrarium.
According to the Saarbrücker Zeitung, the firefighters also found numerous snake skins and dead snakes.
The search for possible additional animals should continue on Thursday.
The two surviving snakes were taken to a zoo.
How the animals managed to escape was initially unclear.
According to media reports, the house was sealed and keyholes and door cracks were taped so that any spiders and snakes that were still undiscovered could not escape.