Hildesheim, June 13, 2025:
Presentation of the 2025 Civil Courage Award at KSM

Observe and act. Three people were honored today with the Civil Courage Award for this. As every year, the awards ceremony took place in the apprentice workshop of KSM Castings Group GmbH in Hildesheim – where the award is made.

The Civil Courage Award honors citizens who have shown exceptional commitment of helping others in the Hildesheim region. The award recipients are chosen by a jury consisting of the district administrator, the police, the managing director of the kwg and mayors – with the support of the artist Enrico Garbelmann, whose artistic design serves as the basis for the award. The selection is made from several nominations submitted by the public to the Lower Saxony Police via email at praevention@pi-hi.polizeiniedersachsen.de.

This year‘s award recipients were Kerstin Blank, Volkan Irtegün, and Lino Tristan Lau. In July 2024, Kerstin Blank and her two children observed a man entering the Hohnsensee lake in Hildesheim to swim. Shortly after, she noticed that he repeatedly submerged his head and interpreted this as a sign that he needed help. She jumped into the water to search for the man in order to help him, but was unable to locate him in the murky water. Since her two children, then 4 and 11 years old, were already crying, she returned to the shore and called the emergency services. The man was ultimately rescued dead by DLRG divers. Despite several other people present, Kerstin Blank was the only one to alert a rescue.

The second prize, endowed with €500, was awarded to Volkan Irtegün and Lino Tristan Lau. In June 2024, Volkan Irtegün, a co-driver of Lino Tristan Lau, reported a car to the police on the B1 between Hildesheim and Elze, which attracted attention due to its conspicuous, traffic-endangering driving. The 77-year-old driver was subsequently stopped by police in Mahlerten. After the police conducted fitness tests, a blood sample was taken because an illness-related cause for the driving behavior seemed possible. The analysis of the blood sample revealed an urgent need for medical intervention, so the driver was taken to a hospital by an ambulance dispatched to his home.

„Civil courage means being attentive, having an eye for one‘s fellow human beings, looking out and helping,“ said District Administrator Bernd Lynack at the awards ceremony in the KSM Castings apprentice workshop. Matthias Kaufmann, Managing Director of the district housing association kwg, also recognized the exemplary actions of the award winners. KWG donates the annual prize money. In addition to the prize, the recipients receive a special and highly individual award: In the apprentice workshop of KSM Castings Group in Hildesheim, an imprint of each winner‘s hand is made, cast in aluminum alloy, and mounted on a base. „One‘s own hand symbolizes civil courage in a very special way,“ said artist Enrico Garbelmann.

Image captions:
Left image: Enrico Garbelmann, Matthias Kaufmann (kwg Managing Director), Lino Tristan Lau, Kerstin Blank with her son and daughter, Volkan Irtegün, District Administrator Bernd Lynack.
Middle image: Kerstin Blank with her son and daughter, KSM training manager Jörg Gustke, Manuel Duarte (works council chairman), Jos Smeets (KSM plant manager in Hildesheim), Matthias Kaufmann, and trainer Amir Haydari in the KSM Castings Group training workshop in Hildesheim.
Right image: Civil Courage Awards.

Download press release