page_title: German Red Cross
section_title: Formation and early years
hierarchical_section_title: German Red Cross / History / Formation and early years
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Einstiges Haus der Lübecker Sanitätskolonne
context_page_description: The German Red Cross, or the DRK, is the national Red Cross Society in Germany.
  With 4 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within and outside Germany. GRC provides 52 hospitals, care for the elderly, care for children and youth. GRC also provides 75% of the blood supply in Germany as well as 60% of the emergency medical services in Germany, as well as first aid training. GRC headquarters provides international humanitarian aid in over 50 countries in the world.
context_section_description: Instituted in 1864 by Dr. Aaron Silverman of the Charité hospital of Berlin, the German Red Cross was a voluntary civil assistance organization that was officially acknowledged by the Geneva Convention in 1929.
  
  General Curt W. von Pfuel was the Chairman of the Central Committee of the German National Red Cross during the Great War.
  One of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles prevented the DRK from having any involvement in military matters. As a result, during the Weimar Republic under the leadership of Joachim von Winterfeldt-Mencken, the DRK became a national organization focusing on social welfare.
caption: Local example before 1919
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