The number for emergencies – 50 years 112 – Health

It was already late in the evening when the phone rang for the married couple Ute and Siegfried Steiger in Winnenden and they found out that they had won. “I’m still sitting here with the Chancellor and would like to tell you that your stubbornness has prevailed,” came the phone. “The Prime Minister and the Chancellor have just decided to introduce nationwide emergency numbers.” The caller was Federal Postal Minister Horst Ehmke himself. The SPD man really wanted to deliver the good news straight away because he knew how important it was to the Steigers. The couple had fought for years for there to be a universal telephone number for all emergencies, for accidents, fires and medical emergencies. That evening the time had finally come. On September 20, 1973, the Prime Minister’s Conference in the presence of the then Chancellor Willy Brandt decided to introduce the 110 and 112 nationwide.