Otto Lummitzsch
Technisches Hilfswerk was managed or directed by whom from 1952 to 1955?
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 : - 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 , who had founded the THWs 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 : - 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 ) 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 ) 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 - 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 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 . 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 : - since 2020 : 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 .