After World War II the Technisches Hilfswerk was founded in 1950, by order of the minister of the interior Gustav Heinemann. The first president of the THW was Otto Lummitzsch [de], who had founded the THW's predecessor, the Technische Nothilfe, in 1919. The main purpose of the THW was civil defense in the event of war. This has changed over the decades; today the THW intervenes in a wide spectrum of disasters, such as traffic accidents, industrial disasters, or earthquakes.[citation needed]
The largest disaster control action took place in August 2002 after the flooding of the Elbe river in eastern Germany. About 24,000 THW members participated in the operation, with up to 10,000 people helping simultaneously along the Elbe and its tributaries.[6][7]
The largest engagement outside Germany was in France in 2000, after storms Lothar and Martin blew down power lines and trees, blocking many streets, between 26 and 28 December 1999. The main contribution was supplying temporary electrical power for hospitals and other important institutions and rebuilding parts of the electrical system.[citation needed]
As a federal authority which is part of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the THW is headed by a president and board. Its headquarters (THW-Leitung) are in Bonn-Lengsdorf, together with the Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe (BBK) (Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance).
The THW comprises 668 local chapters, 66 regional offices, 8 state associations, and the THW administration in Bonn, which consists of the management staff, the commissioner of volunteers, and the Deployment Section with the units E1 mission, E2 foreign, E3 training, E4 logistics, and E5 technology, and the Central Services Section with the units Z1 volunteers and staff, Z2 organization, Z3 finance, Z4 security and health protection, and Z5 information and communication.
The THW logistics center has its office in Heiligenhaus, and is, via its attachment to the Logistics Unit E4, part of the THW administration.
The THW is stationed all over Germany in 668 local chapters, called Ortsverbände (OV). Some 80,000 people are active in this organisation including about 15,000 young volunteers (members of the THW Youth). The majority of those are volunteers, while about 1,800 work full-time in its administration.[1] Each local chapter (Ortsverband) maintains one or more Technische Züge (technical platoons), each consisting of one Zugtrupp (command squad), comprising four volunteers, one Bergungsgruppe (rescue units) comprising nine to twelve volunteers, and one to three Fachgruppen (technical units), comprising four to eighteen volunteers.
A Tatra 815 from the THWTHW Operation CenterTHW six-wheel vehicle at volunteer fair in Travemünde
The main type of THW unit is one of two Bergungsgruppen (1st and 2nd Rescue Groups), equipped with heavy tools like hydraulic cutting devices, chain saws, and pneumatic hammers. Their vehicles are the Gerätekraftwagen 1 (GKW 1) (Equipment Truck 1) for the 1st Rescue Group and the Mehrzweckkraftwagen (MzKW) (Multi-Purpose Truck) or the older Gerätekraftwagen 2 (GKW 2) — which is scheduled to be phased out — for the 2nd Rescue Group.
The Fachgruppen (Technical Units) include:
Bridge Building (Brückenbau)
Debris Clearance (Räumen)
Demolition/Blasting (Sprengen)
Electricity Supply (Elektroversorgung)
Emergency Supply and Maintenance, (Notinstandsetzung & Notversorgung, introduced 2019 as a replacement for the former technical unit Illumination and many 2nd rescue units)
Infrastructure (Infrastruktur)
Oil Pollution (Ölschaden)
Search and Rescue (Ortung)
Water Damage / Pumping (Wasserschaden / Pumpen)
Water Hazards (Wassergefahren)
Water Supply and Treatment (Trinkwasserversorgung)
Recovery (Bergung)
Unmanned Aerial Systems (Unbemannte Luftfahrtsysteme)
Furthermore, two types of technical units exist outside of technical platoons. They provide support mainly during major incidents or multi-regional operations:
Logistics (Logistik)
Command, Control and Communications (Führung und Kommunikation)
For relief in foreign countries, there are four Schnelleinsatzeinheiten Bergung AuslandorSEEBA (Rapid Deployment Unit Search and Rescue Abroad) units according to INSARAG standards, able to go airborne within six hours,[17] and three Schnelleinsatzeinheiten Wasserversorgung AuslandorSEEWA (Rapid Deployment Unit Water Supply and Treatment Abroad) units.
Furthermore, the THW has a pool of experts which can be rapidly deployed to places of crisis to perform assessment and coordination tasks within the fields of technical and logistical support. Those experts are also active in capacity building operations.
In Germany, military service was mandatory for adult males until 2011. Instead of joining the military for a shorter period full-time, one of the alternatives was to join a non-combatant volunteer organisation within the German Katastrophenschutz (disaster relief) or Zivilschutz (civil defense) for a minimum of four years (this is calculated so that although serving far less time every week, in the end the number of served hours was about the same). The THW was one of those organisations. Others were too, such as volunteer fire brigades and various organisations engaged in emergency medical service; however, the THW relied more heavily on such quasi-conscripts, as it tends to have less local popularity than, e. g., volunteer fire brigades (who tend to be the chief social club of their respective village or town-quarter), and as it had less of an infrastructure of paid employees than, for instance, the German Red Cross.
Deputy Head of Local Branch (Stv. Ortsbeauftragter)
Training and Qualification Officer (Ausbildungsbeauftragter) Expert Advisor (Fachberater)
Youth Activity Leader (Jugendbetreuer) Maintenance Sergeant (Schirrmeister) Public Relations and Volunteers Recruitment Officer (Beauftragter für Öffentlichkeitsarbeit) Administration Secretary (Verwaltungsbeauftragter) Cook (Koch)
Technical Platoons & Technical Units
Technical Platoon Leader (Zugführer) Team Leader Logistics Unit(Leiter der Fachgruppe Logistik) Team Leader Command and Communications (Leiter der Fachgruppe Führung/Kommunikation)
Command Squad Leader (Zugtruppführer) Command Department Head (Sachgebietsleiter der Fachgruppe Führung/Kommunikation)
State Commissioner (Landesbeauftragter) Headmaster of the Federal Academy (Leiter der Bundesschule) Division Chief (Abteilungsleiter) Commissioner of Volunteers (Beauftragter für das Ehrenamt)
Department Chief (Referatsleiter) Academy Manager (Schulmanager) Chief of the Management Staff (Leiter des Leitungsstabes)
Service Consultant (Bürosachbearbeiter Service) Instructor (Ausbilder) Artisan (Gerätehandwerker) Driver (Kraftfahrer)
Consultant (Bürosachbearbeiter) Trainee (Auszubildender) Federal Service Volunteer (Absolvent Bundesfreiwilligendienst) Social Service Volunteer (Absolvent Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr) Intern (Praktikant)
The THW-Jugend (THW Youth) is the youth organization of the THW. It has set itself the target to introduce boys and girls from the age of six in a playful way to the work of the THWs. The THW-Jugend is not part of the Federal Agency for Technical Relief, but is an independently registered charity. This arrangement was made in order to avoid maintaining a state youth organization.