Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany)

Federal Ministry of the Interior
Bundesministerium des Innern (BMI)
Agency overview
Formed 1 January 1879 as the Reichsamt des Inneren
Jurisdiction Government of Germany
Headquarters Alt-Moabit 101D
10559 Berlin
52°31′26″N 13°20′50″E / 52.52389°N 13.34722°ECoordinates: 52°31′26″N 13°20′50″E / 52.52389°N 13.34722°E
Employees 1,500
Minister responsible Thomas de Maizière, Federal Minister of the Interior
Agency executive Ole Schröder, Parliamentary State Secretary
Website http://www.bmi.bund.de
BMI in Berlin
BMI in Bonn

The Federal Ministry of the Interior (German: Bundesministerium des Innern), abbreviated BMI, is cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is in Berlin, with a secondary seat in Bonn. The current minister of the interior is Thomas de Maizière.

History

The Reichsamt des Innern (Imperial Office of the Interior) was the Ministry of the Interior of the German Empire. On the proposal of the Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck in was created on 24 December 1879 by an Imperial decree from the Reich Chancellery. Like the other Imperial Offices it was directly under the control of the Reichskanzler. The seat of the office was in Berlin and it was managed by a Secretary of State, who from 1881 until 1916 also simultaneously held the office of Vizekanzler. The gazette for the publication of official notices was run by the Office from 1880. Entitled the Zentralblatt für das Deutsche Reich (ZBl), it had been published by the Reich Chancellery from 1873 until 1879.

With the Law on the Provisional Imperial Government of 11 February 1919, the Imperial Office became the Reichsministerium des Innern (RMI) (Imperial Ministry of the Interior) which remained the German Ministry of the Interior during the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. From 1923 until 1945, the ministry published the government gazette, which was entitled the Reichsministerialblatt (RMBl). On 1 November 1934 it was united with the Prussian Ministry of the Interior as the Reichs- und Preußischen Ministerium des Innern (Imperial and Prussian Ministry of the Interior).[1]

In 1945, the Imperial Ministry of the Interior was succeeded by the present Federal Ministry.

Responsibilities

The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for internal security and the protection of the constitutional order, for civil protection against disasters and terrorism, for displaced persons, administrative questions, and sports. It is host to the Standing Committee of Interior Ministers and also drafts all passport, identity card, firearms, and explosives legislation. The ministry also houses the Joint Anti-Terrorism Center formed in 2004 which is an information-sharing and analytical forum for all German police and intelligence agencies involved in the fight against terrorism.

Organization

State Secretaries

The minister is supported by two parliamentary state secretaries and two state secretaries who manage the ministry's various departments. One of the latter manages "P", "B", "IS" and "M" departments plus the crisis management cell and the working group on counter-intelligence development. The other supervises "Z", "G", "D", "O", "SP" and "V" departments plus the information technology director, data protection and freedom of information office and the doping task force.

Departments

Special agencies

Name Abbrev. Translation
Bundesausgleichsamt BAA Federal Equalization of Burdens Office
Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge BAMF Federal Office for Migration and Refugees
Bundesakademie für öffentliche Verwaltung BAköV Federal Academy of Public Administration
Beschaffungsamt BeschA Procurement Agency of the Federal Ministry of the Interior
Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit BfDI Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information
Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz BfV Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution
Bundespolizei BPOL Federal Police
Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung BiB Federal Institute for Population Research
Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft BISp Federal Institute of Sport Science
Bundeskriminalamt BKA Federal Criminal Police Office
Bundesamt für Kartografie und Geodäsie BKG Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung BpB Federal Agency for Civic Education
Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik BSI Federal Office for Information Security
Bundesverwaltungsamt BVA Federal Office of Administration
Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe BBK Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance
Schutzkommission beim Bundesministerium des Innern SchK Scientific Advisory Board on Civil Defense and Disaster Protection
Fachhochschule des Bundes für öffentliche Verwaltung FH Bund Federal Public Administration College
Koordinierungs- und Beratungsstelle der Bundesregierung für Informationstechnik in der Bundesverwaltung KBSt
Statistisches Bundesamt destatis StBA Federal Statistical Office
Technisches Hilfswerk THW Federal Agency for Technical Relief
Unabhängige Kommission zur Überprüfung des Vermögens der Parteien und Massenorganisationen der DDR UKPV Independent Commission for the Review of Assets of Parties and Mass Organisation of the GDR
Vertreterin des Bundesinteresses beim Bundesverwaltungsgericht VBI
Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Aussiedlerfragen und nationale Minderheiten
Bundesanstalt für den Digitalfunk der Behörden und Organisationen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben BDBOS Federal Agency for Emergency Service Digital Radio

List of Federal Ministers of the Interior (since 1949)

Political Party:       CDU       CSU       FDP       SPD

Name
(Born-Died)
Image Party Term of Office Chancellor
(Cabinet)
Gustav Heinemann
(1899–1976)
CDU 20 September 1949 11 October 1950 Adenauer
(I)
Robert Lehr
(1883–1956)
CDU 11 October 1950 20 October 1953
Gerhard Schröder
(1910–1989)
CDU 20 October 1953 13 November 1961 Adenauer
(II • III)
Hermann Höcherl
(1912–1989)
CSU 14 November 1961 25 October 1965 Adenauer (IV • V)
Erhard (I)
Paul Lücke
(1914–1976)
CDU 26 October 1965 2 April 1968 Erhard (II)
Kiesinger (I)
Ernst Benda
(1925–2009)
CDU 2 April 1968 21 October 1969 Kiesinger
(I)
Hans-Dietrich Genscher
(b. 1927)
FDP 22 October 1969 16 May 1974 Brandt
(I • II)
Werner Maihofer
(1918–2009)
FDP 16 May 1974 8 June 1978 Schmidt
(I • II)
Gerhart Baum
(b. 1932)
FDP 8 June 1978 17 September 1982 Schmidt
(II • III)
Jürgen Schmude
(b. 1936)
SPD 17 September 1982 1 October 1982 Schmidt
(III)
Friedrich Zimmermann
(1925–2012)
CSU 4 October 1982 21 April 1989 Kohl
(I • II • III)
Wolfgang Schäuble
(b. 1942)
CDU 21 April 1989 26 November 1991 Kohl
(III • IV)
Rudolf Seiters
(b. 1937)
CDU 26 November 1991 7 July 1993 Kohl
(IV)
Manfred Kanther
(b. 1939)
CDU 7 July 1993 27 October 1998 Kohl
(IV • V)
Otto Schily
(b. 1932)
SPD 27 October 1998 22 November 2005 Schröder
(I • II)
Wolfgang Schäuble
(b. 1942)
CDU 22 November 2005 28 October 2009 Merkel
(I)
Thomas de Maizière
(b. 1954)
CDU 28 October 2009 3 March 2011 Merkel
(II)
Hans-Peter Friedrich
(b. 1957)
CSU 3 March 2011 17 December 2013
Thomas de Maizière
(b. 1954)
CDU 17 December 2013 Incumbent Merkel
(III)

External links

  1. Stephan Lehnstaedt: Der „Totale Krieg“ im Reichsministerium des Innern unter Heinrich Himmler. In: Die Verwaltung. Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht und Verwaltungswissenschaften. 39. Vol., 2006, pp. 393–420; Walter Strauß: Das Reichsministerium des Innern und die Judengesetzgebung. Aufzeichnungen von Doktor Bernhard Lösener. In: Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 9 (1961), part 3, pp. 262–313.