Adenauer-De Gaulle Prize 2020

DRF Luftrettung, June 23, 2021 - Filderstadt, Germany - Germany’s Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation and Minister of State Michael Roth, and the French Ambassador to Luxembourg, Bruno Perdu, presented the Adenauer-de Gaulle Prize 2020 to DRF Luftrettung and Luxembourg Air Rescue (LAR) on the evening of Monday, 21 June.

Stephan Nusser, paramedic / HEMS TC, and Peter Kennemann, pilot, accepted the award on behalf of the two organisations at a ceremony at Neumünster Abbey in Luxembourg.

It was a moment of emotion and pride. Originally scheduled for January 2021, Monday’s ceremony had been postponed by the coronavirus pandemic. Finally, Michael Roth, Member of the German Bundestag, Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office and Commissioner for Franco-German Cooperation, and Bruno Perdu, French Ambassador to Luxembourg, were able to present the Adenauer-De Gaulle Prize 2020 to DRF Luftrettung and Luxembourg Air Rescue for their cross-border deployment helping patients during the pandemic.

A welcome address was delivered by Jean Asselborn, who is the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg’s Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Minister for Immigration and Asylum. In their speeches, Michael Roth and Bruno Perdu spoke about the two organisations’ professionalism and extraordinary levels of commitment. Both showed solidarity and neighbourliness in the true European spirit during a very challenging time and made a major contribution to overcoming the health crisis.

“We’re delighted to have received this award, which confirms our conviction that solidarity and friendship are indispensable, especially in difficult times such as the current pandemic,” said Dr Krystian Pracz, Chairman of DRF Luftrettung. “As an organisation we were very proud to have been able to reach out to our French neighbours. Our staff’s enormous commitment made this possible, as did the no-nonsense support provided by our partners. We would like to thank them all most sincerely.”

Adenauer-de Gaulle Prize

The Adenauer-de Gaulle Prize was established on 22 January 1988 to mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty and is awarded to individuals, initiatives and institutions whose work has made an outstanding contribution to strengthening Franco-German friendship. Winners are chosen by a bi-national jury co-chaired by the Commissioners for Franco-German Cooperation. The jury is composed of an equal number of prominent French and German figures from areas such as politics, culture, media, science and business who represent the societies of both countries in their diversity. The prize carries a total endowment of €10,000.

About DRF Luftrettung: The DRF Group is based in Filderstadt and is one of Europe’s largest air rescue organisations. The group carried out a total of 39,971 missions in 2020. Crews are on permanent standby at 14 of the 35 stations in Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein, and helicopters with rescue hoists are used at eight locations.

Austria’s ARA Flugrettung joined the DRF Group in 2001, bringing two stations with it, and Northern Helicopter GmbH, which performs air and water rescue missions at three stations, joined in 2019. DRF Luftrettung is also involved in a station in Balzers, Liechtenstein, which is part of the AP3 Luftrettung network. DRF Luftrettung also uses its own air ambulances to repatriate patients.

The non-profit air rescue organisation depends on financial support to continuously expand its life-saving work. DRF e.V. already has well over 400,000 supporting members.