Phones, sirens and public screens will sound nationwide as authorities assess whether emergency alerts can reach everyone Millions of people across Germany…
Phones, sirens and public screens will sound nationwide as authorities assess whether emergency alerts can reach everyone
Millions of people across Germany are due to receive an emergency alert on Thursday as the country conducts a nationwide exercise of the systems intended to protect residents during floods, fires, infrastructure failures and other major crises. The operation will examine not only whether the technology works, but whether warnings can reach people quickly, clearly and without excluding those who depend on older devices, analogue channels or accessible communication.
The exercise, Germany’s sixth nationwide Warning Day, is scheduled to begin at 11:00 local time on 10 September. The Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, known as the BBK, will send a central alert through Germany’s Modular Warning System, or MoWaS.
The message should then be distributed through Cell Broadcast, warning applications including NINA and KATWARN, radio and television stations, digital information boards and other connected services. Participating municipalities will also activate local equipment such as sirens and loudspeaker vehicles.
An all-clear is expected at approximately 11:45. Authorities have stressed that the alerts are part of an exercise and do not indicate an actual emergency.
A warning must travel more than one route
Germany’s model is deliberately based on overlapping communication channels. Cell Broadcast can send an alert directly to compatible mobile phones within a specified area without requiring residents to install an application or subscribe to a service. Warning apps can provide more detailed information, while broadcasters and public displays extend the message beyond personal devices.
Sirens retain a distinct role. They can attract attention outdoors, wake people who are sleeping and reach residents whose phones are switched off, incompatible or unavailable. Their weakness is that a sound alone cannot explain the nature of a danger or tell people what action to take. The alert therefore needs to be followed through another channel.
This combination matters because no single technology reaches everyone. Older mobile phones may not receive Cell Broadcast messages. Devices in flight mode or outside network coverage will remain silent. Applications may depend on notification settings and connectivity. Siren coverage, meanwhile, is determined locally and is not uniform across Germany.
The practical question is therefore not whether one system performs perfectly, but whether the different channels compensate for one another when a real emergency disrupts electricity, mobile networks, transport or normal routines.
Strong figures still require scrutiny
The BBK’s preliminary results from the 2025 exercise found that 97 per cent of roughly 93,560 survey participants had received a warning through at least one channel. Cell Broadcast alone reached 75 per cent of respondents.
Those figures suggest substantial progress since the first post-reunification Warning Day in 2020, when technical delays exposed serious weaknesses in the national system. Cell Broadcast entered regular operation in Germany in February 2023 and has since become one of the country’s most important warning tools.
However, an online survey of volunteers should not be treated as proof that 97 per cent of the entire population was reached. People who notice an alert and are comfortable completing an online questionnaire may be more likely to participate. The data are valuable for identifying patterns and faults, but they must be considered alongside technical reports, municipal feedback and the experiences of groups who may be underrepresented.
Reaching people at the margins
An effective warning is not simply one that arrives. It must also be understandable and usable.
Authorities need to consider people with hearing or visual impairments, those with limited German, tourists and recent arrivals, residents of care facilities, people experiencing homelessness and communities with unreliable mobile coverage. A message that depends on sound alone may exclude deaf residents; one that appears only as text may not be sufficient for people with limited literacy or some visual impairments.
Clear language, accessible formats and consistent signals are consequently matters of public safety rather than optional additions. Local institutions, including schools, hospitals, transport operators and care providers, also need procedures for interpreting alerts and helping people who cannot respond independently.
Public confidence is another part of the infrastructure. Repeated exercises can familiarise residents with warning sounds and messages, reducing confusion during an actual crisis. Yet confidence also depends on authorities being candid about missed alerts and correcting identified weaknesses.
Civil protection returns to Europe’s agenda
Germany’s exercise comes as European governments reassess preparedness for increasingly severe weather, cyberattacks, infrastructure disruption and the wider consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine. As The European Times has reported on eastern-flank security, civil protection now sits alongside military readiness in debates about Europe’s resilience.
That broader security setting should not obscure the everyday value of warning systems. The same infrastructure used during a hostile incident may be needed for flash floods, wildfires, chemical accidents or prolonged power failures. Its legitimacy rests on protecting all residents without discrimination and on giving people information they can act upon.
Thursday’s exercise cannot reproduce the fear, damaged networks or incomplete information of a real disaster. It can nevertheless reveal whether an alert moves cleanly from federal authorities through telecommunications providers, broadcasters and municipalities to the public.
The most meaningful result will not be the volume of the sirens or the number of phones that sound at precisely 11:00. It will be what authorities learn from the devices that remain silent and the people the system still struggles to reach.
