General Meeting of the BVMS in Nuremberg 2024

Before the official part of this year's members' meeting on Friday, we were able to get to know Nuremberg better on Thursday with an interesting accompanying programme. I was delighted to meet long-standing COREDINATE customers such as Hendrik Rutz  from PRO SAFE Sicherheit und Service Management, Karin Schröer from Wachschutz Münsterland Sicherheitsdienste UG & Co. KG, Sebastian Feiler, Sicherheitsdienst Feiler e.K., Toni Schönherr from Themis Gesellschaft für Schutz und Sicherheit mbH and, of course, the Chairman of BVMS, Lars Müller from SDN Sicherheitsdienst Nürnberg e.K. And also other acquaintances, such as Lennart Martin and Matthias Herteux from Safety Line Security & Service GmbH, with whom I had very nice conversations.

Afterwards, the tour got historical and at the same time fitting for the security industry: after lunch together, our route took us to the Nürnberger Lochgefängnissen (Nuremberg Hole Prisons), where we were given our own guided tour. The 'Nürnberger Loch' (‘Nuremberg Hole’) is considered to be the oldest part of the city's town hall and is one of the largest surviving city prisons from the Middle Ages. It originally served as a remand prison and was for condemned death row prisoners. During our tour, it quickly became quite gloomy. In the oppressive atmosphere of the ‘hole’, we were able to explore cells, the torture chamber, a forge, the well room and even the prison kitchen. The loch prisons are particularly well known for their role during the time of the witch hunts and the Inquisition, where they served as a place of torture and interrogation. The conditions were extremely harsh and the prisoners were held in inhumane conditions.

Once we were ‘released’ from prison, we set off on a very special city tour of Nuremberg. A historic tram was waiting for us near Nuremberg's main railway station, where we were able to learn a lot about the history of the railway during a 90-minute tour. 

On Friday, the official part of the event took place in Nuremberg: this year's BVMS general meeting and the award ceremony for Sicherheitsmitarbeiter des Jahres 2024. 

A highlight of the event was the visit from Jenny Baier, District Councillor, the Bavarian Minister of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann, and the Mayor of Nuremberg, Marcus König.

I once again had the honour of presenting the award for Sicherheitsmitarbeiter des Jahres. This year's winner, Christian Rockus, gratefully accepted his trophy, the certificate and the 500 euro Amazon voucher. His team spirit, which had already been praised by many during the election, was also evident at the award ceremony. Mr Rockus announced that he would convert the voucher he received into a bank transfer and donate it to the Deutschen Bundeswehrverband für Veteranen und PTBS Geschädigte (German Armed Forces Association for veterans and PTSD victims). 

I also found the project presentation by Christian Hickmann, Senior Sales Manager at CEIA GmbH, exciting. The Italian company is a leader in the development and manufacture of metal detectors and electromagnetic control devices. The mobile installations can be used flexibly in many areas, but especially at major events.

The grand finale was a flying buffet event at the Cloud One Bar in Nuremberg to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the BVMS. We had an excellent view over Nuremberg and the waiters really went out of their way to make us feel right at home. In addition to delicious cocktails, we were served a four-course menu starting with an asparagus soup with wild garlic oil.

All in all, it was once again a well-rounded event that I think enriched us all. A big thank you goes to Lars Müller and Nils Heimann for the good preparation and organisation of the supporting programme. On Saturday I travelled back home again. I'm already looking forward to next year, when we meet in Düsseldorf for the next BVMS members' meeting.