Thanks to a donation from the Cologne Green Foundation and Kölner Sportstätten GmbH, the Müngersdorf Sports Park is now equipped with a state-of-the-art thunderstorm warning system on a large scale.
Sirens and light signals warn of the danger of impending lightning strikes when a thunderstorm is approaching. In this way, thousands of recreational athletes and club athletes in the Müngersdorf Sports Park can be warned in good time and can then get to safety. Signage also provides information on the correct behaviour during thunderstorms. After a two-year test phase at the Aachener Weiher, the Cologne Green Foundation and the Kölner Sportstätten GmbH financed the warning modules, which are installed in the Müngersdorf Sports Park in the area of the stadium forecourt, at the Ostkampfbahn and at the Jahnwiesen.
A public test of the new warning system including sirens on Wednesday, 10 July 2019, will bring together those responsible for the local sports institutions. After that, the thunderstorm warning system will start operating. The technology is based on a lightning detection system from Siemens AG. The high-tech system warns fully automatically every day between 8 am and 10 pm via high-power sirens and LED lights. Coordinate data of actual lightning strikes in the vicinity are recorded in real time.
The City of Cologne is the first city in the world to use such a system on a large area such as the Müngersdorf Sports Park. The Cologne City Council had accepted the donation from the Cologne Green Foundation worth around 22,000 euros in September 2018. The costs of 1,700 euros annually for maintenance and operation are borne by the City of Cologne.