1 INTRODUCTION In July 2021 there was a devastating high-magnitude flood on the Ahr river in western Germany with 135 fatalities and severe damage to buildings and infrastructure. The discharge was several times the highest previously measured flood peak discharge (Roggenkamp & Herget, 2024) (the first measuring gauge of the Rhine tributary was set up in 1947). Yet the Ahr 2021 flood event in the sense of a millennial flood is not an isolated case in Central Europe.
