Technisches Hilfswerk on arvau

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The (, THW (), English: Federal Agency for Technical Relief) is the federal civil protection organisation of Germany. It is legally part of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and controlled by the German federal government. 97% of its more than 88,000 members (2025) are volunteers.

The predecessor of THW was the "Technische Nothilfe" (Technical Emergency Relief) (TN), founded in 1919 by Otto Lummitzsch, a pioneer (Combat support) officer, which existed in the Weimar Republic and in Nazi Germany until 1945.

Obligations

The obligations are defined in section 1 of the THW act (). These include:

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

History

After World War II the was founded in 1950, by order of the minister of the interior Gustav Heinemann. The first president of the THW was , who had founded the THW's predecessor, the (TN) in 1919.

The 'Technical Emergency Corps' (TN) began as a strikebreaker organisation after the First World War, but developed into a volunteer emergency response unit. During the Nazi Germany from 1933 till 1945 TN became in charge of technical civil defence.

When it was founded, the main purpose of the THW was also 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.

On February 7, 1953, the THW embarked on its first international deployment: Following a major storm in the Netherlands, THW teams participated in the relief and rescue operations. For the first time since World War II, Germans were assisting other countries in an international mission.

The most important domestic operations in the 1960s were the North Sea storm flood in 1962 and the mining accident of Lengede in 1963.

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 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.

The organisation has also been active in many disaster relief operations abroad, for example in Thailand and Sri Lanka after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, in the United States after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, in Pakistan after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, in 2010 during the flooding in Poland, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the April 2015 Nepal earthquake, and the 2020 Beirut explosions.

In 2021, the THW provided relief during major flooding in southwestern Germany, particularly in the Ahr Valley.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine starting in February 2022 led to the THW's largest logistical operation abroad. By May 2025, the THW had procured and delivered relief supplies worth more than €150 million to its partners. The THW focused particularly on supporting institutions in the front-line areas and on supporting its state partners, the Ukrainian Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Agency, and the Ukrainian Border Guard.

In February 2023, THW personnel deployed to Turkey in the aftermath of the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.

Organization and personnel

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 () are in , together with the (BBK) (Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance).

The THW comprises 669 local chapters, 66 regional offices, eight 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
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 between Düsseldorf and Essen in the highly populated Western part of Germany and is, via its attachment to the Logistics Unit E4, part of the THW administration.

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
2006–2020:
2020–2023:
since 1 July 2023: Sabine Lackner

Personnel

Nearly 88,000 people across Germany volunteer with the THW, of which almost 17,000 are women and girls, and this number is rising.

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 (disaster relief) or (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 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.

Volunteers

Full-time employees

Field organization

Organization in Germany

The THW is stationed all over Germany in 669 local chapters, called (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 () maintains one or more (technical platoons), each consisting of one (command squad), comprising four volunteers, one (rescue units) comprising nine to twelve volunteers, and one to three (technical units), comprising four to eighteen volunteers.

The main type of THW unit is one of two (1st and 2nd Rescue Groups), equipped with heavy tools like hydraulic cutting devices, chain saws, and pneumatic hammers. Their vehicles are the (GKW 1) (Equipment Truck 1) for the 1st Rescue Group and the (MzKW) (Multi-Purpose Truck) or the older (GKW 2) — which is scheduled to be phased out — for the 2nd Rescue Group.

The (Technical Units) include:

Bridge Building ()
Debris Clearance ()
Demolition/Blasting ()
Electricity Supply ()
Emergency Supply and Maintenance, (, introduced 2019 as a replacement for the former technical unit Illumination and many 2nd rescue units)
Infrastructure ()
Oil Pollution ()
Search and Rescue ()
Water Damage / Pumping ()
Water Hazards ()
Water Supply and Treatment ()
Recovery ()
Unmanned Aerial Systems ()

Furthermore, two types of technical units exist outside of technical platoons. They provide support mainly during major incidents or multi-regional operations:

Logistics ()
Command, Control and Communications ()

International deployment

For relief in foreign countries, there are four or SEEBA (Rapid Deployment Unit Search and Rescue Abroad) units according to INSARAG standards, able to go airborne within six hours, and three or SEEWA (Rapid Deployment Unit Water Supply and Treatment Abroad) units.

The Schlauchschwinger 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.

The long-standing expertise on the international field is also integrated into cooperative projects, such as the Cultural Heritage Response Unit (CHRU), a module focusing on the protection of cultural heritage in disaster management.

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 environmental protection

Combating and mitigating 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

deTHW-Jugend

The (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 to the work of the THWs in a fun way. The 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.