Ranks of the fire brigade in Germany

The designation of the individual ranks in the fire brigades in Germany can differ from state to state. There are also differences between volunteer fire departments and professional fire departments . The rank is often indicated by a special rank badge on the uniform.

Ranks are usually based on the respective level of training and seniority. They can be linked directly to functions. Some federal states (e.g. Hesse , North Rhine-Westphalia ), however, differentiate between ranks and positions . In addition to the rank badge, a special service badge may be worn here.

The ranks come in a male and a female form, firefighter and firefighter, or fire-fighting officer. For the sake of readability, only the male form is listed, provided that the female form is clearly recognizable.

Fireman (FM) is also a collective term for members of the fire brigade, regardless of rank and gender. Instead of the term “firefighter”, the term “fire brigade member” (FA) is appropriately used - see the list of abbreviations for the fire service .

Ranks of the professional fire brigades

The official titles of the professional fire brigade are essentially regulated nationwide by the federal pay regulations, as is the career division into the middle , upper and higher service by the civil service framework law.

The middle firefighting service, sometimes also called career group 1, 2nd entry office, is assigned the official titles of fire chief, chief fire chief and main fire chief in salary groups A 7 to A 9. In addition, there is also the option of upgrading to qualifications with grades A 10 and A 11 for special service posts (security guard / situation service manager).

Successful completion of the basic training for professional fire brigades (B1) and career training (B2) is required to achieve the rank of “fire master”. The training is country-specific and takes 12 to 24 months and consists of a fire-fighting part and an emergency part.

In order to achieve the higher ranks in career group 1, depending on the federal state, successful completion of the B3 course (group leader of professional fire services) may be necessary.

The senior service, the first entry-level office in career group 2, is assigned the official designations of fire chief inspector, fire officer, fire officer and fire council in grades A 10 to A 13. The rank of fire inspector (A 9) ceased to exist with the Law on Modernization of Service Law in 2016. Since then, it has been possible to gain qualifications up to salary group A 14 (Oberbrandrat / Brandoberrat) without a B VI course.

Finally, in the higher service (career group 2, 2nd entry-level office) there are the official titles of fire counsel, chief fire chief (or depending on the federal state: fire chief), fire director and chief fire director in grades A 13 to A 16. In some cities (from around 400,000 inhabitants) there are also top offices in the grades B 2 to B 5 with the designations Director of the fire brigade (e.g. NRW), State fire director (e.g. Berlin, Lower Saxony), chief fire director (e.g. B. Hamburg, Munich), director of the fire department (Hessen) or city director (e.g. Stuttgart and Nuremberg).

The federal states determine which offices are to be held in each career path. In some countries, for example, the higher-level entry office is the fire chief inspector.

The official designation in the preparatory service (training) corresponds to the official designation of the entrance office with the addition “candidate” (e.g. fire supervisor candidate) in the middle and senior service. In the higher service it is fire trainee.

Some federal states assign either the official designation "Fire Council zA" or "Fire Assessor" to civil servants in the higher service.