Berlin mourns the loss of the neighborhood hero: pensioner Emma Hartmann will be remembered for her brave swan rescue campaign.

Berlin mourns the loss of the neighborhood hero: pensioner Emma Hartmann will be remembered for her brave swan rescue campaign.

In summer, Emma Hartmann sold newspapers in front of the Prinzenbad in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, in winter on the Admiral Bridge in the same district. The 83-year-old pensioner used the sale to improve her pension and became known in the neighborhood. But in January 2022 she became famous overnight throughout Germany when a viral video showed her how she grabbed a swan who had landed on the bridge next to her sales booth, and threw back into the Landwehr Canal. Emma Hartmann explained that cars and cyclists often overlook the birds and that it can become dangerous. She not only carried out this rescue operation once, but also took around five to six times a year. Now the 83-year-old has died, and a sign is reminiscent of her and her work as a newspaper seller at the Admiral Bridge. Emma Hartmann will be remembered for her brave swan rescue campaign in Berlin.

Local effects and context:

• Emma Hartmann was a well-known figure in the neighborhood of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and was valued by many people.
• Your work as a newspaper seller was a familiar picture for the residents of the district both in summer and in winter on the Admiral Bridge.
• The viral video of her swan rescue campaign made Emma Hartmann known throughout Germany and its history was widespread in the media.
• The death display on the Admiral Bridge is reminiscent of Emma Hartmann's contribution to the community and its years of presence in this place.
• The case of Emma Hartmann also shows the importance of the Landwehr Canal as a habitat for birds and the challenges that these animals have to overcome in urban areas.

Source:

according to a report by www.bz-berlin.de