The Federal Ministry of the Interior (in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, Bundesministerium des Innern or BMI) is a ministry

Ministry (government department)

A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...

 of the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 federal government

Politics of Germany

The Federal Republic of Germany is a federal parliamentary republic, based on representative democracy. The Chancellor is the head of government, while the President of Germany is the head of state, which is a ceremonial role but with substantial reserve powers.Executive power is vested in the...

. Its main office is in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, with a secondary seat in Bonn

Bonn

Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....

. The current minister of the interior is Dr. Hans-Peter Friedrich

Hans-Peter Friedrich

Hans-Peter Friedrich is a German politician, representative of the Christian Social Union . He has been a member of the Bundestag of Germany since 1998. In the ongoing coalition negotiations with the Free Democratic Party, Friedrich was responsible for the portfolio of housing and development...

.

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

Law enforcement in Germany

Law enforcement in Germany is constitutionally vested solely with the states, which is one of the main features of the German political system. Therefore, unlike France, Italy, the United States, Canada or many other countries, Germany has no federal police force comparable to the Italian...

 and intelligence agencies involved in the fight against terrorism.

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

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 director, data protection and freedom of information

Freedom of information

Freedom of information refers to the protection of the right to freedom of expression with regards to the Internet and information technology . Freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e...

 office and the doping

Doping (sport)

The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...

 task force.

Departments

• "P" Department (Abteilung P) is the ministry’s police department and has two branches: law enforcement and counter-terrorism. It analyses crime control issues and develops concepts and drafts laws to improve law enforcement and crime prevention efforts. It also manages the Federal Criminal Police Office
  Federal Criminal Police Office
  Federal Criminal Police Office, or Bundeskriminalamt , can refer to:*Federal Criminal Police Office *Federal Criminal Police Office...
  
  , coordinates police support group
  Bereitschaftspolizei
  The Bereitschaftspolizei are the support and rapid reaction units of Germany's police forces...
  
   deployments and represents federal interests in the sport and security arena. Due to Germany's federal structure, it can only promote internal security and public safety by cooperating with the state police forces
  Landespolizei
  thumb|[[Germany|German]] police officer in [[Hamburg]]The Landespolizei are the main police forces of Germany. They are under the sole jurisdiction, funded and operated by the states of Germany.-History:...
  
   and with agencies within the European Union
  European Union
  The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
  
   (EU) and beyond.

• "IS" Department (Abteilung IS) is the internal security department that protects the German state against political extremism. It exercises supervisory control over the Federal Office for Constitution Protection, studies extremist groups and can ban them as a final resort. In addition, the department is responsible for the security of classified information and prevention of sabotage and espionage. It also manages civil defense and emergency management efforts at the national level and exercises supervisory control over the Civil Protection Center and Federal Agency for Technical Relief
  Technisches Hilfswerk
  The Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk is a civil protection organisation controlled by the German federal government...
  
  .

• "B" Department (Abteilung B) supervises and manages German Federal Police
  German Federal Police
  The Bundespolizei is a uniformed federal police force in Germany. It is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior...
  
   operations.

• "M" Department (Abteilung M) is responsible for immigration
  Immigration
  Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
  
  , integration
  Racial integration
  Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
  
  , refugees and European harmonisation.

• "Z" Department (Abteilung Z) is the central office.

• "G" Department (Abteilung G) is responsible for policy, Europe and international developments

• "D" Department (Abteilung D) is responsible for the civil service
  Civil service
  The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
  
  .

• "O" Department (Abteilung O) is responsible for administrative modernisation and organisation.

• "SP" Department (Abteilung SP) is responsible for sport
  Sport
  A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
  
  .

• "V" Department (Abteilung V) is responsible for constitutional, state, administrative and European law.

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 Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information is the federal commissioner not only for data protection but also for freedom of information....
Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz	BfV	Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution
Bundespolizei	BPOL	Federal Police German Federal Police The Bundespolizei is a uniformed federal police force in Germany. It is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior...
Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung	BiB	Federal Institute for Population Research
Bundesinstitut für Sportwissenschaft	BISp	Federal Institute of Sport Science
Bundeskriminalamt	BKA	Federal Criminal Police Office Federal Criminal Police Office Federal Criminal Police Office, or Bundeskriminalamt , can refer to:*Federal Criminal Police Office *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 Technisches Hilfswerk The Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk is a civil protection organisation controlled by the German federal government...
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

Presidents of the Reich Chancellery

Reich Chancellery

The Reich Chancellery was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany in the period of the German Reich from 1871 to 1945...

, 1871-1879

• Rudolf von Delbrück
  Rudolf von Delbrück
  Martin Friedrich Rudolf von Delbrück was a Prussian statesman at the time of Otto von Bismarck.-Biography:...
  
   1871-1876
• Karl von Hofmann 1876-1879

Secretaries of State for the Interior, 1879-1919

• Karl von Hofmann 1879-1880
• Karl Heinrich von Bötticher 1880-1897
• Count Arthur Adolf von Posadowsky-Wehner 1897-1907
• Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg 1907-1909
• Klemens Delbrück 1909-1916
• Karl Helfferich
  Karl Helfferich
  Karl Theodor Helfferich was a German politician, economist, and financier from Neustadt an der Weinstraße in the Palatinate.-Biography:...
  
   1916-1917
• Max Wallraf 1917-1918
• Karl Trimborn 1918
• Hugo Preuß 1918-1919

Weimar Republic 1919-1933

• Hugo Preuß (DDP) 1919
• Eduard David
  Eduard David
  Eduard Heinrich Rudolph David was a German politician. During the Weimar Republic he was the Minister of the Interior from 21 June 1919 to 3 October 1919....
  
   (SPD) 1919
• Erich Koch-Weser
  Erich Koch-Weser
  Erich Koch-Weser was a German lawyer and liberal politician...
  
   (DDP) 1919-1921
• Georg Gradnauer
  Georg Gradnauer
  Georg Gradnauer was a newspaper editor and politician for the Social Democratic Party of Germany , and the first elected Minister-President of Saxony following the abolition of the Kingdom of Saxony....
  
   (SPD) 1921
• Adolf Köster
  Adolf Köster
  Adolf Köster was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and diplomat. He served as Foreign Minister of Germany and Interior Minister of Germany .-Background:...
  
   (SPD) 1921-1922
• Rudolf Oeser (DDP) 1922-1923
• Wilhelm Sollmann
  Wilhelm Sollmann
  Friedrich Wilhelm Sollmann was a German journalist, politician, and interior minister of the Weimar Republic. In 1919 he was a member of the German delegation to the Treaty of Versailles...
  
   (SPD) 1923
• Karl Jarres
  Karl Jarres
  Karl Jarres was a politician of the German People's Party during the Weimar Republic. Jarres was born in the city of Remscheid. Rhenish Prussia, and after legal studies in Bonn as a young adult, pursued an administrative career...
  
   (DVP
  German People's Party
  The German People's Party was a national liberal party in Weimar Germany and a successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire.-Ideology:...
  
  ) 1923-1925
• Martin Schiele (DNVP
  German National People's Party
  The German National People's Party was a national conservative party in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the NSDAP it was the main nationalist party in Weimar Germany composed of nationalists, reactionary monarchists, völkisch, and antisemitic elements, and...
  
  ) 1925
• Otto Geßler (DDP) 1925-1926
• Wilhelm Külz
  Wilhelm Külz
  Wilhelm Külz was a German politician . In 1926 he was interior minister of the Weimar Republic. After 1945 he took actively part in establishing the LDPD...
  
   (DDP) 1926-1927
• Walter von Keudell (DNVP) 1927-1928
• Carl Severing
  Carl Severing
  Carl Wilhelm Severing was a German Social Democrat politician during the Weimar era.He was Interior Minister of Prussia from 1920 to 1926, Minister of the Interior from 1928 to 1930 and Interior Minister of Prussia again from 1930 to 1932...
  
   (SPD) 1928-1930
• Joseph Wirth
  Joseph Wirth
  Karl Joseph Wirth, known as Joseph Wirth, was a German politician of the Catholic Centre Party who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1921 to 1922.-Biography:...
  
   (Z
  Centre Party (Germany)
  The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
  
  ) 1930-1931
• Wilhelm Groener
  Wilhelm Groener
  Karl Eduard Wilhelm Groener was a German soldier and politician.-Biography:He was born in Ludwigsburg in the Kingdom of Württemberg, the son of a regimental paymaster. He entered the Württemberg Army in 1884, and attended the War Academy from 1893 to 1897, whereupon he was appointed to the General...
  
   1931-1932
• Wilhelm von Gayl
  Wilhelm von Gayl
  Wilhelm Moritz Egon Freiherr von Gayl was a German jurist and politician of the German National People's Party .-Biography:...
  
   (DNVP) 1932
• Franz Bracht
  Franz Bracht
  Clemens Emil Franz Bracht was a German jurist and politician.Born in Berlin, he studied law at the University of Würzburg and the University of Berlin. He joined the Centre Party and on 18 December 1924 became Supreme Burgomaster of Essen...
  
   1932-1933

Nazi Germany 1933-1945

• Wilhelm Frick
  Wilhelm Frick
  Wilhelm Frick was a prominent German Nazi official serving as Minister of the Interior of the Third Reich. After the end of World War II, he was tried for war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials and executed...
  
   (NSDAP) 1933-1943
• Heinrich Himmler
  Heinrich Himmler
  Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
  
   (NSDAP) 1943-1945
• Paul Giesler
  Paul Giesler
  Paul Giesler was a member of the NSDAP, from 1941 NSDAP Gauleiter of Westphalia-South and as of 1942 also acting Gauleiter of the Gau Munich-Upper Bavaria...
  
   (NSDAP) 1945
• Wilhelm Stuckart
  Wilhelm Stuckart
  Wilhelm Stuckart was a Nazi Party lawyer and official, a state secretary in the German Interior Ministry and later, a convicted war criminal.-Early life:...
  
   (NSDAP) 1945

Federal Ministers of the Interior since 1949

• Gustav Heinemann
  Gustav Heinemann
  Gustav Walter Heinemann, GCB was a German politician. He was Mayor of the city of Essen from 1946 to 1949, West German Minister of the Interior from 1949 to 1950, Minister of Justice from 1966 to 1969 and President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1969 to 1974.-Early years and professional...
  
   (CDU) 1949-1950
• Robert Lehr (CDU) 1950-1953
• Gerhard Schröder
  Gerhard Schröder (CDU)
  Gerhard Schröder was a West German politician and member of the Christian Democratic Union Party.A lawyer by profession, Schröder joined the Nazi Party and the SA in 1933....
  
   (CDU) 1953-1961
• Hermann Höcherl
  Hermann Höcherl
  Hermann Höcherl was a Nazi politician, volunteer Wehrmacht soldier and after the war German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria ....
  
   (CSU) 1961-1965
• Paul Lücke
  Paul Lücke
  Paul Lücke was a German politician and civil servant. He served as Germany's Federal Minister of the Interior from 1965–1968....
  
   (CDU) 1965-1968
• Ernst Benda
  Ernst Benda
  Ernst Benda was a German legal scholar, politician and judge. He served as the 4th president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany from 1971 to 1983. Benda briefly served as Minister of the Interior of Germany .Ernst Benda was born in Berlin, the son of an Engineer. After school he served...
  
   (CDU) 1968-1969
• Hans-Dietrich Genscher
  Hans-Dietrich Genscher
  Hans-Dietrich Genscher is a German politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party . He served as Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany from 1974 to 1982 and, after a two-week pause, from 1982 to 1992, making him Germany's longest serving Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor...
  
   (FDP) 1969-1974
• Werner Maihofer
  Werner Maihofer
  Werner Maihofer was a German jurist and legal philosopher. He served as Germany's Federal Minister of the Interior from 1974–1978 until he resigned after a scandal involving an illegal wiretapping of Klaus Traube.-Biography:...
  
   (FDP) 1974-1978
• Gerhart Baum
  Gerhart Baum
  Gerhart Rudolf Baum is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party and a lawyer....
  
   (FDP) 1978-1982
• Jürgen Schmude
  Jürgen Schmude
  Jürgen Dieter Paul Schmude is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. He was born in Insterburg East Prussia, Germany, ....
  
   (SPD
  Social Democratic Party of Germany
  The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
  
  ) 1982
• Friedrich Zimmermann (CSU) 1982-1989
• Wolfgang Schäuble
  Wolfgang Schäuble
  Wolfgang Schäuble is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union , currently serving as the Federal Minister of Finance in the Second Cabinet Merkel....
  
   (CDU) 1989-1991
• Rudolf Seiters
  Rudolf Seiters
  Rudolf Seiters is a German politician of the CDU party.From 1989-1991, he was Federal Minister for Special Affairs and the Head of the Office of the German Chancellery. From 1991-1993, he was the Minister of the Interior. From 1998-2002, he was the Vice President of the German Bundestag, or...
  
   (CDU) 1991-1993
• Manfred Kanther
  Manfred Kanther
  Manfred Kanther is a German conservative politician and was Minister of the Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1993 to 1998. He has been a member of the CDU .- Life and education :...
  
   (CDU) 1993-1998
• Otto Schily
  Otto Schily
  Otto Georg Schily was Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany from 1998 to 2005, in the cabinet of former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .-Biography:...
  
   (SPD) 1998-2005
• Wolfgang Schäuble
  Wolfgang Schäuble
  Wolfgang Schäuble is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union , currently serving as the Federal Minister of Finance in the Second Cabinet Merkel....
  
   (CDU) 2005-2009
• Thomas de Maizière
  Thomas de Maizière
  Karl Ernst Thomas de Maizière is a German politician , currently serving as the Minister of Defence in the Second Cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel....
  
   (CDU) 2009-2011
• Hans-Peter Friedrich
  Hans-Peter Friedrich
  Hans-Peter Friedrich is a German politician, representative of the Christian Social Union . He has been a member of the Bundestag of Germany since 1998. In the ongoing coalition negotiations with the Free Democratic Party, Friedrich was responsible for the portfolio of housing and development...
  
  , (CSU) 2011–

External links

• Official site