Civil Protection

The protection of the population against special dangers that cannot be averted by its own efforts is one of the most noble tasks of the modern state.

According to Article 73 (1) No. 1 of the Basic Law, the federal government is exclusively responsible for the protection of the civilian population in the event of defense. The tasks of civil defense are regulated in the Civil Defense Act. The task of civil defense is to protect the population, their homes and workplaces, civilian offices, businesses, facilities and installations that are vital to life or defense, as well as cultural assets from the effects of war through non-military measures and to eliminate or mitigate their consequences. While civil protection is a system of hazard prevention and assistance in the event of extraordinary damage events organized under state law, the Civil Protection Act incorporates the potential provided for civil protection in the states into civil protection planning in its entirety. The terms "disaster control" and "civil defense" do not designate a separate organization, but only different tasks of hazard prevention. The federal states and the federal government make use of all available human and material resources to perform their respective tasks on the basis of special laws.

The Civil Defense Act is currently being revised. A draft law amending the Civil Defense Act is currently being discussed by the federal and state governments. According to the federal government's ideas, this law is to be based on the "civil defense dual-use concept", according to which the facilities maintained for original federal purposes can also be used by the Länder in peacetime in order to be operational in the event of defense.