Technisches Hilfswerk

Federal Agency for Technical Relief
Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk (THW)
	Federal sign of the THW
	Main logo of the THW
Agency overview
Formed	August 22, 1950
Preceding agency	Technische Nothilfe;
Jurisdiction	Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany)
Headquarters	Bonn-Lengsdorf
Employees	1200; 83,807 volunteers
Annual budget	EUR 243.060.000 (2017)
Agency executives	Albrecht Broemme, President; Gerd Friedsam, Vice President;
Parent agency	Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany)
Child agencies	2 training centers; 8 regional offices; 66 branch offices; 668 local sections;
Website	www.thw.de

The Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk (THW, Federal Agency for Technical Relief) is a civil protection organisation controlled by the German federal government. 99% of its 79,514 members (2016) are volunteers.^[1]

Tasks

The tasks of the THW are described in a law called THW-Gesetz.^[2] These tasks are:

technical and logistical support for other (German) GOs, NGOs or other authorities like fire brigades, police or the custom authorities
technical or humanitarian relief in foreign countries, as assigned by the government
technical relief in Germany as part of national civil protection measures.

History

After World War II the Technisches Hilfswerk was founded in 1950, by order of the minister of the interior. 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 during the decades; today the THW is a helper in a wide spectrum of disasters, such as traffic accidents, industrial disasters, or earthquakes.

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.^{[citation needed]}

The largest engagement outside Germany was in France in 2000, after storms Lothar and Martin had destroyed much of the overhead electrical overland wires and overturned trees blocked many streets from December 26 to 28, 1999. The main contribution was supplying temporary electrical power for hospitals and other important institutions and rebuilding parts of the electrical system.

The organisation has also been active in many disaster relief operations abroad, for example after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (for both relief operations and medium-term rebuilding), Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake,^[3] in 2010 during the flooding in Poland, and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.^[4]

Organization

As a federal authority which is part of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the THW is headed by the president of the THW administration together with its board. The current president, from 16 May 2006, is engineer Albrecht Broemme. He previously served as the Fire Chief of Berlin. The headquarters of the THW administration and management (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 THW local chapters, 66 regional offices, 8 state associations, and the THW administration in Bonn, which is subject to the THW President and assists him in his daily official business. It 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 helpers 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.

Field organization

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 800 work full-time in its administration. Each local chapter (Ortsverband) maintains one or more Technische Züge (technical platoons), each consisting of one Zugtrupp (command squad), comprising four volunteers, two Bergungsgruppen (rescue units) comprising nine (first unit) to twelve (second unit) volunteers, and one to three Fachgruppen (technical units), comprising four to eighteen volunteers.

The main type of THW unit (about two out of three) 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)
Illumination, (Beleuchtung)
Infrastructure, (Infrastruktur)
Oil Pollution, (Ölschaden)
Search and Rescue, (Ortung)
Water Damage / Pumps, (Wasserschaden / Pumpen)
Water Hazards, (Wassergefahren) and
Water Supply and Treatment, (Trinkwasserversorgung).

Two more sections classified as technical units are Logistics (Logistik) and Command, Control and Communications (Führung und Kommunikation); but despite the classification they are not part of a technical platoon. They provide support to units and chapters outside of operations but can also assist during major incidents or multi-regional operations. For relief in foreign countries, there are four Schnelleinsatzeinheiten Bergung Ausland or SEEBA (Rapid Deployment Unit Search and Rescue Abroad) units, able to go airborne within six hours,^[5] and three Schnelleinsatzeinheiten Wasserversorgung Ausland or SEEWA (Rapid Deployment Unit Water Supply and Treatment Abroad) units. They also have EU-Modules for High capacity Pumping (HCP).

Ranks

Volunteers

Chapters
Head of Local Branch (Ortsbeauftragter)	Deputy Head of Local Branch (Stv. Ortsbeauftragter)	Training and Qualification Officer (Ausbildungsbeauftragter) Expert Advisor (Fachberater)	Youth Activity Leader (Jugendbetreuer) Maintenance Sergeant (Schirrmeister) Public Relations 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)	Group Leader (Gruppenführer)	Squad Leader (Truppführer) Command Assistant (Führungsgehilfe)	Helper (Helfer)

Spokespersons and Representatives
Federal Spokesperson (Bundessprecher)	Deputy Federal Spokesperson (Stv. Bundessprecher)	State Spokesperson (Landessprecher)	Deputy State Spokesperson (Stv. Landessprecher)	Local Spokesperson (Helfersprecher) Deputy Local Spokesperson (Stv. Helfersprecher )	Representative, Federal Association (Vertreter Bundesvereinigung) Representative, State Association (Vertreter Landesvereinigung)

Full-time employees

President (Präsident)	Vice President (Vizepräsident)	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)	Department Consultant (Referent)

Regional Office Chief (Regionalstellenleiter)	Senior Consultant (Sachbearbeiter) Specialist Teacher (Fachlehrer)	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)

Services provided

Technical threat prevention

Area lighting
Clearing and blasting
Combating flooding and inundation
Search and rescue, and salvage
Water rescue

Infrastructure technical support

Electricity supply
Emergency bridge work
Drinking water supply
Waste water disposal

Command and communication, logistics

Catering and care of operational staff
Command center establishment and operation
Command support
Creation of temporary telecommunication systems
Establishment and operation of logistical bases
Maintenance of material, repair and maintenance work for mission equipment
Transportation of consumer goods for mission demands

Technical support in the protection of the environment

Fighting against oil damage
Water analysis

Provision of the population

Electricity and drinking water provision
Establishment and equipment of emergency accommodation and collecting points with matching infrastructure
Waste water disposal

Technical support

Diving
Makeshift road works
Maintenance of civil protection facilities such as emergency wells and shelters
Rescue from heights
Technical help on traffic routes

Heads of THW

1952–1955: Otto Lummitzsch
1955–1958: Alexander Löfken
1958–1962: Rudolf Schmidt
1962–1977: Hans Zielinski
1977–1985: Hermann Ahrens
1985/1986: Helmut Meier
1986–2002: Gerd Jürgen Henkel
2002–2006: Georg Thiel
since 2006: Albrecht Broemme

Personnel

In Germany, military service was mandatory for adult males until 2011. Instead of joining the military for six months 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 realied 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.

THW-Jugend

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.

References

^ "Annual Report 2016". THW. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
^ "THW-Gesetz - Gesetz ueber das Technische Hilfswerk". Retrieved 2010-10-17.
^ "Technical and Humanitarian Assistance Worldwide". Archived from the original on 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2008-04-29. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "Erdbeben in Japan: THW setzt Hilfe fort". Retrieved 2011-03-14.
^ "The SEEBA Special Unit – the Government's Tool to Help Rescue and Salvage Operations Domestically and Abroad". Retrieved 2008-02-17.

External links

[1] "Annual Report 2016". THW. Retrieved February 28, 2018.

[2] "THW-Gesetz - Gesetz ueber das Technische Hilfswerk". Retrieved 2010-10-17.

[3] "Technical and Humanitarian Assistance Worldwide". Archived from the original on 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2008-04-29. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[4] "Erdbeben in Japan: THW setzt Hilfe fort". Retrieved 2011-03-14.

[5] "The SEEBA Special Unit – the Government's Tool to Help Rescue and Salvage Operations Domestically and Abroad". Retrieved 2008-02-17.

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