was also a new parish priest, Dr. Bernd Bothe, born in Schelmkappe, an outlying centre of Löningen; he served only until the next year, when he was replaced by Peter van Iersel, born in Best in the Netherlands, but he did not last long, either. He died unexpectedly of heart failure in 1972. In 1970, there were 713 people in Müllenbach (679 Catholics, 28 Evangelicals and 6 others). A crime spree came to an end in Müllenbach in 1970. Police from Cochem were pursuing a car thief who had been stealing cars all over West Germany. Police fired warning shots and the car that the thief was driving ended up in a roadside ditch. He fled on foot but was arrested the next morning in Müllenbach. The 17-year-old and his accomplice, also 17, were charged with stealing about 30 cars throughout the country. The new parish priest in Müllenbach in 1972, succeeding to the post after Father Peter van Iersel's death, was Konrad Flatau, born in Heilsberg, East Prussia (now Lidzbark Warmiński, Poland); he served until the next year when he was succeeded by Wilhelm Freytag, born in Ankum. Father Freytag served until 1979. In 1974, Heinz Peters was the mayor and his deputy was Paul Klotz and then, after Peters's reelection in 1979, Walter Tholl, and after his reelection in 1984, Rudi Gilles. Also in 1979, Johannes Walhorn, born in Osnabrück, became the new parish priest; he served until 1993. In 1989, Rudi Gilles was the mayor and his deputy was Josef Lanser. In the early morning of 13 April 1991, towards 3:20, a strong earthquake shook the region. Its epicentre lay near Roermond in the Netherlands. It registered 5.9 on the Richter scale. In 1993, there was a new parish priest, Ferdinand Koch, born in Henri-Chapelle, an outlying centre of Welkenraedt in Belgium; he served until the next year when he was succeeded by Hubert Goebel (or Göbel), born in Mundersbach, who served until 2008. In October 1994, there was an uproar when, in a marquee full of people, a 30-year-old man from neighbouring Kaisersesch chose the occasion of the playing of the National Anthem to give the Nazi salute. In June of the following year, a court in Cochem fined him 1,800 marks for this indiscretion. In 1997, a population of 730 was reported for Müllenbach, of whom 45 maintained a secondary residence in the municipality. By