Civil Protection: Sirens to Sound Across Bavaria for Germany’s Nationwide Warning Day

Residents in Bavaria should not be alarmed when sirens sound on Thursday, September 10. The signals will form part of Germany’s nationwide Warning Day, an annual test of the systems used to inform people during disasters, emergencies or a defense situation.

The trial alarm will begin at 11 a.m. The federal government will send a warning text to broadcasters, app servers and other services connected to its Modular Warning System, known as Mowas. Those services will relay the test message at different times through television, radio and smartphones. Authorities plan to issue the all-clear at about 11:45 a.m.

In Bavaria, warnings can reach the public through sirens, loudspeaker announcements and digital information boards in cities and at railway stations. Cell Broadcast will send messages directly to mobile phones, while the Nina and Katwarn apps will provide additional alerts. A spokeswoman for the Bavarian Interior Ministry said Mowas can issue warnings in several languages, including for people with limited or no German.

The state says both its interior ministry and district governments, as well as local authorities, are preparing carefully. Officials want to test digital and analogue systems regularly so they can reach residents and provide information during a real emergency. Bavaria has also conducted its own statewide test alarm every March for more than 20 years.

During the first statewide warning exercise this year, authorities tested an all-clear message through Cell Broadcast for the first time. The Interior Ministry said that exercise ran positively and largely without disruption.

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Both the Interior Ministry and the district governments as higher disaster and civil protection authorities, as well as the individual municipalities, are preparing carefully for Warning Day.