Helper in emergency: Unimog U 4000 from Unimog Club Gaggenau for auxiliary goods transport to Petrinja

Stuttgart/Gaggenau/Petrinja (Croatia) - When the earth shook in the region around the Croatian town of Petrinja between Christmas 2020 and New Year 2021, a Mercedes-Benz Unimog was quickly positioned. "We have to help", summarizes René Dusseldorp, Managing Director of the Gaggenau company Merex and Mertec as well as Deputy Chairman of the Unimog Club Gaggenau, his first reaction to the incoming disaster reports. It was one of the strongest earthquakes in Croatia since the beginning of earthquake recording. Said, done - a few days later René Dusseldorp and Copilot Greg Köhler made their way with an Unimog U 4000 with trailer. The load compartment was packed with blankets, clothes, baby food, radiators, field beds and medication.

By changing drivers, the approximately 900 kilometer long route to Petrinja could be mastered without major breaks, so that the 14-meter-long Unimog Gespann with a train weight of 11 tons and a top speed of 89km was soon in the middle of collapsed buildings and destroyed roads.

Markus Hrkac, whose family members and friends lived in Petrinja, together with his friend André Dusseldorp, son of René Dusseldorp, had carried out a first aid transport with a Sprinter and Vito in the earthquake region. Their experience reports helped prepare and carry out the help mission under the strict restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Without vaccination and corona test, we had to load the donations within 78 hours in Petrinja and the surrounding villages, distribute them and leave the country," remembers René Dusseldorp. In a 15-hour drive, the team went back to Gaggenau. There, the Unimog auxiliary mission was successfully completed after two strenuous days and 1800 kilometers travelled and lost sleep.

The Unimog Club Gaggenau e.V. is an international association of Unimog and MBtrac friends with currently over 7400 members in 42 countries.

75 years of Unimog - the first Unimog prototype was created in 1946.