An innovative approach combines technical flood protection and restoration of the river Helme near Sundhausen in Thuringia. The risk of flooding is significantly reduced and companies are settling in the now flood-free industrial areas. Rare and protected species, such as the endangered river mussel (Unio crassus), also benefit from near-natural flood protection measures.

This video explains restoration measures at the river Helme. The project manager shares his experiences in an interview. The video is part of a series of ten videos on river restoration projects in Germany, which were created for the information portal river restoration of the German Federal Environment Agency (uba.de/renaturierung).