Technisches Hilfswerk

The Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk (THW, Federal Agency for Technical Relief) is a civil protection organisation controlled by the German federal government. 99% of its 79,543 members (2019) are volunteers.
Tasks.
The tasks of the THW are described in a law called "THW-Gesetz".
These tasks are:
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 , 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.
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, in 2010 during the flooding in Poland, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the April 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2020 Beirut explosions.
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 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.
Organization in Germany.
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. 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.
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:
Furthermore, two types of technical units exist outside of technical platoons. They provide support mainly during major incidents or multi-regional operations:
International Deployment.
For relief in foreign countries, there are four "Schnelleinsatzeinheiten Bergung Ausland" or "SEEBA" (Rapid Deployment Unit Search and Rescue Abroad) units according to INSARAG standards, able to go airborne within six hours, and three "Schnelleinsatzeinheiten Wasserversorgung Ausland" or "SEEWA" (Rapid Deployment Unit Water Supply and Treatment Abroad) units.
The THW also operates High capacity Pumping (HCP) modules for the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
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.
Services provided.
Technical threat prevention
Infrastructure technical support
Command and communication, logistics
Technical support in the protection of the environment
Provision of the population
Technical support
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 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.
The THW has its own decoration for meritorious service or exemplary achievements in the field of emergency management or civil protection: All three classes of the Ehrenzeichen des Technischen Hilfswerks are approved by the President of Germany.
Ranks.
In general, the rank structure of the THW is divided into two groups: the volunteers and the full-time employees.
"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.