Lost and found office

Lost property can be handed in at the town hall. Citizens who have lost a key or are missing their umbrella call almost every day.

If citizens want to apply for a new ID card or register their place of residence in Lüdinghausen, they contact the citizens' office in the town hall. However, the citizens' office is actually responsible for many other things. It is also the city's lost and found office. If you have lost a key or are missing your umbrella, you are welcome to contact the staff at the Citizens' Office. You can also hand in lost property here.

The most common items brought to the town hall are keys, wallets and cell phones. Sunglasses and small bags are also often accidentally left on a park bench. "Items that can be personally identified don't usually stay here for long," says employee Janina Hüske. "We then notify the people in writing or by telephone and they collect the items."

Unfortunately, it is rarely possible to identify the owner. The lost property is then registered with a number and stored in the vault. The items are then stored for at least six months. "That's the legal retention period," explains Hüske. And after that? Some items for which there is no longer a purpose are destroyed after this time. Others are donated to a good cause if no finder comes forward. This is the case with bicycles, for example. "When a bike is handed in, we check the frame number with the police to see if it has been reported stolen," explains Hüske. If this is not the case, the bikes are stored in a garage at the Ostwallschule by the employees of the building yard.

Employee Sophia Lütke Aldenhövel reports a somewhat curious find. "A bag with several brand-new shoes was once handed in here. Of course, you wonder who would lose something like that." Unfortunately, no owner could be found in this case either and the shoes were donated.

A total of around 300 found items are handed in each year. The citizens' office sees itself as a citizen-oriented service provider that is happy to help citizens if they have lost something. Anja Kleykamp