Bergwacht (Germany)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mountain Rescue
Old logo of the DRK mountain rescue service
legal form Community of the German Red Cross
founding June 14, 1920 in Munich , Hofbräuhaus
founder Fritz Berger
Office Berlin , Germany
motto voluntary - professional
main emphasis Mountain rescue service , nature conservation
Chair Klemens Reindl, federal manager
Members 14,500
Website www.bergwacht.de
Mountain rescue service, care for a forest worker
Emergency vehicles of the Black Forest mountain rescue service

The mountain rescue service in Germany is a community of the German Red Cross (DRK mountain rescue service), mainly active in the mountain rescue service and in nature conservation. The charity provides in Germany over 90% of the emergency services from the rough terrain of the German middle and high mountains as well as to use priorities safely.

In contrast to this, the Austrian mountain rescue services are supporting bodies in nature and environmental protection, and alpine rescue is organized in the Austrian mountain rescue service .

tasks and goals

Search, rescue, etc. Rescue especially in alpine and impassable terrain and support

Support functions

Nature and environmental protection

  • Support in the field of nature conservation
  • Support and implementation of nature conservation projects (e.g. wild animals and skiing in the mountains)

history

The first German mountain rescue service existed in Saxony as early as 1912. It consisted of the Samaritan Department of the Saxon Mountaineering Association.

In 1898 the "Alpine Rescue Committee" was founded in Munich under the umbrella of the Alpine Club. The starting point of organized mountain rescue in the eastern Alpine region. In the years that followed, Alpine rescue centers were set up from the Allgäu to Berchtesgaden under the umbrella of the German and Austrian Alpine Association, supported by the local sections. Also initiated by sections of the Alpine Club, the Bergwacht was founded on June 14, 1920 as "Sitten und Naturschutzwacht" in the Hofbräuhaus in Munich. The aim of the newly founded mountain rescue service was to restore "order, custom and decency in the mountains". The rather desolate conditions in the mountains after the First World War with poaching, break-in of huts, cattle and wood theft prompted the founders to join forces to “protect the mountain from people”.

A short time later, the Red Cross founded the Mountain Accident Service, or GUD for short, a network of Red Cross paramedics. The GUD was mainly involved in highly frequented mountain and winter sports locations, especially in the Bavarian Alps. In 1923, the mountain rescue service in Bavaria already comprised three departments, Munich, Allgäu and Chiemgau. The mountain rescue service is assigned the tasks of a "local aid center for alpine rescue services".

In 1923, the mountain rescue service also took over the task of the medical service and developed into a comprehensive rescue service for the Bavarian Alps and low mountain ranges under the umbrella of the Alpine Association as the German Mountain Rescue Service. In 1945 the German Alpine Association was banned as a National Socialist organization.

The departments joined the respective regional associations of the German Red Cross . In the French occupation zone, the authorities approved the establishment of the independent Black Forest mountain rescue service. In 1955, with the participation of the Bavarian Mountain Rescue Service, the International Commission for Alpine Rescue Services was founded .

In 1955, the mountain rescue regional associations at federal level came together to form a working group. This resulted in the Federal Mountain Rescue Committee of the DRK. The Black Forest Mountain Rescue Service is represented in this committee as a corporate member.

The mountain rescue service in the German Red Cross as a general association is today also a member of the International Commission for Alpine Rescue , or ICAR for short.

Structure and regional associations

The structure of the mountain rescue service is based on that of the German Red Cross. The mountain rescue service is active in eleven DRK regional associations. The Black Forest Mountain Rescue Service (BWS) has a special position . The BWS is a corporate member of the DRK regional association Baden Red Cross and at the same time an independent association and ensures mountain rescue in the area of ​​the Baden Red Cross (Black Forest).

The regional associations:

See also

Web links

Commons : Bergwacht (Germany)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: Mountain Rescue  - in the news

Individual evidence

  1. Stephanie Geiger: When the mountaineer calls! 100 years of mountain rescue. In: faz.net. June 14, 2020, accessed June 15, 2020 .