Auktion-Mitteldeutschland

Auktion-Mitteldeutschland is the auction arm of FireResQ Tec GmbH, based at Am Sättel 14 in Schleusingen, Thuringia. Stock comes from German fire brigades (Feuerwehr), municipalities and district authorities retiring equipment, plus private consignors. It sells nothing it owns; lots go under the hammer for the consignor's account, so your contract is with that seller. Catalogues appear roughly every five to nine weeks, 25 to 75 lots each, every lot photographed and the catalogue filmed for YouTube and Instagram.

What you can buy

• Fire engines: LF 8, LF 16/12, LF 24 and HLF pumpers on Mercedes-Benz 1222 AF, MAN M90, Iveco Magirus Turbo 90-16 and Ziegler bodies, TLF 16 water tenders on the round-nose MAN, plus DDR-era classics: a Robur LO 2002 AKF, a 1961 Garant.
• Ladders and special appliances: DLK 23/12 turntable ladders by Metz and Iveco Magirus; a Mercedes-Benz 917 AF rescue tender with 10 kVA generator and 5.9 t winch; a Unimog U 1300 L/37 rescue tender with Werner winch; an STLF Atego 1828 with tail lift; brigade boats and trailers.
• Vans, command cars and ambulances: MTW crew buses on VW T4, T5 and Opel Vivaro, ELW 1 command vehicles on Mercedes-Benz Vito, a KdoW Audi A6 quattro, a Toyota Land Cruiser, an ex-RTW Sprinter ambulance.
• Municipal machinery: Multicar M 30 Fumo carrier, Linde H 20 T gas forklift, Sauerburger mulchers, Wiedemann leaf collector, salt and fertiliser spreader, Krone Mega semi-trailers.
• Brigade equipment: Jöhstadt 8/8 portable pumps, Lukas and Weber hydraulic rescue sets, lifting bags, jump cushions, a CAFS foam unit, hose trailers, blue light bars, Ferno stretchers, truck tyres and wheels.

How the bidding works

Registration is free and open to private buyers as well as companies, not dealers only, but an ID document is required and staff release each account manually. Firms based outside Germany can be asked for certified German translations of their papers, and traders outside the EU always need a tax office certificate of trader status under twelve months old. Bidding is timed online: lots close one every five minutes from around 09:00 on auction day, and a late bid extends that lot by five minutes. Increments run 50 to 200 euro, and a proxy agent bids to your limit. Payment is by bank transfer within three working days; cash is refused, and the collection slip follows once the money clears.

What to check before you bid

The premium is 17 percent, plus 19 percent VAT on the premium. VAT on the lot itself varies: many municipal items are marked umsatzsteuerfrei, others carry 19 percent, so read each lot's tax line. Goods are sold unexamined and as-is, warranty and withdrawal excluded, and descriptions come from the consignor: one current Multicar is listed with a failed drive pump, suspected engine damage and no roadworthiness test. Viewing is by appointment at the lot's own location, often somewhere else in Germany rather than Schleusingen. Nothing is shipped: prices are ex-site, unloaded, and you organise loading and transport. Collect within ten working days or pay 20 euro a day storage plus VAT, 25 euro from the twentieth. Buyers must strip blue lights, sirens, lettering and municipal coats of arms immediately; the ex-fire Unimog came with the warning that until that kit goes, only fire and civil protection bodies can register it. Lot texts and the contract language are German, despite the English switch.