The Scout movement in Germany consists of about 150 different associations and federations with about 260,000 Scouts and Guides.
The Scout movement in Germany consists of about 150 different associations and federations with about 260,000 Scouts and Guides.
Scouting in Germany started in 1909. After World War I, German Scouting became involved with the German Youth Movement, of which the Wandervogel was a part. Another group that, while short-lived, was influential on later German Scouting, was the Deutsche Jungenschaft vom 1.11.1929 founded by Eberhard Koebel; some specifics of German Scouting derive from Koebel's group. German Scouting flourished until 1934-35, when nearly all associations were closed and their members had to join the Hitler Youth.
In West Germany and West Berlin, Scouting was reestablished after 1945, but it was banned in East Germany until 1990 in favor of the Thälmann Pioneers and the Free German Youth. Today it is present in all parts of the unified Federal Republic of Germany.
As mentioned above, today about 150 Scouting associations and federations exist in Germany. Most of them are coeducational, but there are also some single-gender organizations - boys-only as well as girls-only. The most important and/or largest associations and federations are:
The mainly male Bund der Pfadfinder (BdP) merged in 1976 with the female Bund Deutscher Pfadfinderinnen (BDP) to form the Bund der Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder (BdP).
The three Protestant scout organisations Bund Christlicher Pfadfinderinnen (BCP), Evangelischer Mädchen-Pfadfinderbund (EMP) (both female) and Christliche Pfadfinderschaft Deutschlands (CPD) merged in 1973 to form Verband Christlicher Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder (VCP).
The Catholic scout organisation Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg is also open to girls and women since 1971. The primarily female Catholic organisation Pfadfinderinnenschaft St. Georg decided in 1982 not to merge with the inclusive counterpart.
A large number of international Scout and Guide units from different countries are active in Germany. Most of them developed on military bases, but there are also some at international schools or connected to diplomatic missions. The majority of international Scout and Guide groups dates back to the Allied occupation of Western Germany following World War II. The small remainder were started recently.
Among the foreign associations in Germany are
There are also other foreign Scout associations active in Germany, mostly with single troops (e.g. Organization of Russian Young Pathfinders, Plast), Scouts et Guides de France in Munich [10] and Hebrew Scouts Movement in Israel in Berlin. [11]
The Dansk Spejderkorps Sydslesvig offers Scouting to the Danish minority of Southern Schleswig in Schleswig-Holstein. It is affiliated to the Danish Det Danske Spejderkorps as well as to the German Bund der Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder and has about 700 members in 15 troops.
Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs is the largest Scouting and Guiding organization in Austria and the only one approved by World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). The association claims more than 300 troops with more than 85,000 Scouts nationwide. WOSM and WAGGGS give quite smaller membership values for the PPÖ: 9,503 Scouts and 10,508 Guides.
The Ring deutscher Pfadfinderverbände was the German national Scouting organization within the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). It served 115,944 members.
The Ring Deutscher Pfadfinderinnenverbände was the German national Guiding organization within the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). It served 47,688 members.
The Verband Christlicher Pfadfinder*innen is a German Protestant coed Scouting and Guiding association. According to the VCP, the organization has about 47,000 members.
The World Federation of Independent Scouts (WFIS) is a non-governmental international Scouting organization with over 7 million members in 151 affiliated Scout organizations in 65 countries. WFIS was formed in Laubach, Germany, in 1996 by Lawrie Dring, a British Scouter with the independent Baden-Powell Scouts' Association (BPSA).
The Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg is the largest of Germany's many Scouting organizations. The Catholic association has about 95,000 members of both genders. Via the Ring deutscher Pfadfinder*innenverbände it is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
National Scouting and Guiding organisations are divided into different age groups in order to deliver the Scouting and Guiding programmes for a full range of youth.
The Südtiroler Pfadfinderschaft, abbreviated as SP, is the Roman Catholic Scout association of the German minority of the Italian province of South Tyrol. The association is coeducational and has 600 members in seven troops. It is affiliated to the Associazione Guide e Scouts Cattolici Italiani (AGESCI), is strongly connected to Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs and Slovenian Catholic Girl Guides and Boy Scouts Association Scouting organizations, and maintains some contact with the Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg. The association owns two campsites in the province.
The Sturmtrupp-Pfadfinder was a Scout association in Germany active from 1926 to 1934. The association never had more than 500 members. It was the first Scout association in Germany to admit boys and girls. It was interdenominational and politically neutral.
The Slovene Scouts and Guides in Carinthia is the Scout and Guide association of the Slovene-speaking minority in Carinthia. It is affiliated to the Carinthia division of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides of Austria as a Scout group. The association is coeducational.
The International Catholic Conference of Scouting (ICCS) is an autonomous, international body committed to promoting and supporting Catholic Scout associations and to be a link between the Scout movement and the Catholic Church. Its headquarters is located in Rome, Italy.
The Deutsche Freischar – Bund der Wandervögel und Pfadfinder (DF) is a German youth organization. Originating from the merger of several small Wandervogel and Scouting groups, it was one of the largest and most important associations of the Bündische Jugend of the Weimar Republic besides the Deutscher Pfadfinderbund and Reichsschaft Deutscher Pfadfinder.
The Deutsche Pfadfinderverband is an umbrella federation of sixteen German non-denominational Scouting associations. It was founded in 1970 and serves about 29,000 members.
The Deutscher Pfadfinderbund in Namibia is a small Scouting association open mainly to boys and girls of German descent in Namibia.
The Peace Light of Bethlehem is a program inaugurated in Austria in 1987 as part of a charitable relief mission for handicapped children and people in need. It has gone to more than 20 countries in Europe, as well as the Americas.
The Pfadfinderbund Weltenbummler e.V.(Scouts' Association Globetrotter) is an inter-confessional and apolitical German Scout association founded in 1981. It has about 2000 members and is part of the World Federation of Independent Scouts (WFIS), the Duke of Edinburgh's Award (DofE), the German Scout Association (DPV), the Bavarian Scout Council and the German Parity Welfare Association. It is recognized by German law as a charitable and nonprofit organization. The association is built on the principles constituted by Robert Baden-Powell. The scout uniform is dark blue; they wear black pants and striped neckerchiefs with varied woogles.
The Deutscher Pfadfinderbund (DPB) (literal translation German Scouting Union) was the first German Scouting association, and the forerunner of the Deutscher Pfadfinderbund (1945). It existed from 1911 until 1933, when it was disbanded by the National Socialists.
The Christliche Pfadfinderschaft Deutschlands e.V. (CPD) is a German Protestant Scout association established in 1976, after the 1973 fusion of Bünde Christliche Pfadfinderschaft Deutschlands, Evangelischer Mädchen-Pfadfinderbund and Bund Christlicher Pfadfinderinnen to form the Verband Christlicher Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder (VCP) led to dissatisfaction with the development of the VCP. This conservative movement then formed a new association which largely relies on the traditions of the original CPD.
The Pfadfinderinnenschaft Sankt Georg (PSG) is a German Roman Catholic Girl Scout regionally coed association with about 10,000 members. The national association is a full member of the Ring deutscher Pfadfinder*innenverbände and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). Founded in 1931 and restarted in 1947, WAGGGS membership was attained in 1950. It is also a member of the International Catholic Conference of Scouting (ICCS) and of the Bund der Deutschen Katholischen Jugend (BDKJ). There is also a parallel Scouting organization with strong ties to the PSG, the Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg.
Hartmut Keyler is a German architect who served as a member of the World Scout Committee, as well as a member of the European Scout Committee.
