Academy for Civil Protection: Let’s go on Dänholm

Actually, the new academy for civil protection on Dänholm should have been finished long ago. But the construction on the Baltic Sea island has not even started. What’s going on there? And why actually Danholm?

After all, the site for the academy has already been decided. According to the Stralsund city administration, Hiddenseer Straße 7 and the open spaces to the west are planned. The site is only 50 meters from the Baltic Sea and is surrounded by a small forest in a wide arc. A sports field and a large prefabricated building for the Federal Police delimit it to the south.

As early as this year, up to 10,000 participants a year should be trained in the academy in the areas of crisis management, disaster control, emergency planning and civil protection. The then Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) announced this schedule at least in 2021. A few days before the general election, he announced the decision for Dänholm together with Stralsund’s mayor Alexander Badrow (CDU).

Who should actually build?

But a year and a half later, there is still nothing to be seen of the new training location. Stralsund is waiting for concrete information as to when exactly the academy will continue, a spokesman for the Hanseatic city said MDR. It is also unclear whether the city itself or the federal government will build the academy. In the second case, the building and real estate administration of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania would receive the order. But so far there is no planning order, according to a spokeswoman on request.

There are similar answers from the Federal Agency for Real Estate Tasks (BImA). She would be responsible for the specifications for the construction of the academy. Currently, however, there is not even an exploration order from the responsible Federal Office for Civil Protection (BBK). This reconnaissance order was only the “starting signal for the search for an additional location for the Academy for Civil Protection,” wrote a BImA spokeswoman to the MDR.

No quick start of construction in sight

According to the BBK and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, there has not yet been a decision on starting construction on Dänholm. It is currently being examined how economical the location on the small island is and how the academy can be financed. Results are expected in the course of the coming legislative period. It starts in 2025.

Ingo Schäfer does not expect construction to start quickly either. The SPD politician and professional firefighter is a member of the Interior Committee of the Bundestag. “As far as I know, at least 100 million euros are missing to implement the construction project. I have never seen that reported anywhere in the budget,” said Schäfer. The federal budget for 2024 is expected to be decided at the beginning of the summer.

The federal government sees a considerable need for training

According to the Federal Government, up to 225,000 people “down to the lowest municipal level” must be trained and trained in the event of a disaster. That’s in one Answer from the end of last year to a small request from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. According to the federal government, this is a “considerable need for training” that is primarily to be borne by the Federal Academy for Civil Protection and Civil Defense (BABZ).

However, this need cannot even come close to being covered at the Academy’s only location in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate. The place, which was badly hit by the flood disaster in summer 2021, is also difficult to reach from the north and east.

The delay at the second planned location in East Germany is therefore a real problem from the point of view of Leon Eckert. He is the rapporteur on civil protection for the Greens parliamentary group in the Bundestag. “Of course, I have fewer people across the country who are prepared. This means that there is a structurally higher probability that someone who is not prepared will be hit in an emergency. And that will remain the case for the time being,” he says. The deputy cites the example of the former district administrator in the Ahrweiler district. The man is accused of reacting incorrectly on the flood night. He had not done any training at the BABZ before.

“Last on the suggestion list”

There was a lot of resentment when the other location was awarded. The additional academy location should be well connected to the motorway and the ICE network and be accessible within three hours from Berlin and the state capitals in the north and east. Downtown, shops and restaurants should be nearby. In addition, the academy should be ready to move into within two years, if possible without new buildings or conversions.

These were four of the most important selection criteria that the Ministry of the Interior had compiled for the location search. These requirements should ensure a quick start of the academy. None of this applies to Dänholm – that’s for sure now.

The Ministry of the Interior received 16 applications from the east for the additional academy location. Among them was one from Eilenburg in Saxony. The city in the north-east of Leipzig proposed the huge administration building of the former chemical plant as the new location. Saxony-Anhalt’s state capital, Magdeburg, in turn advertised the nearby Heyrothsberge location, where the Institute for Fire Protection and Disaster Prevention is already located.

In view of the list of requirements from the Ministry of the Interior, the applicants from Eilenburg and Magdeburg could certainly raise their hopes. But in the end the decision fell on the island off Stralsund. “Dänholm was listed last on the Federal Ministry of the Interior’s list of proposals,” said Ingo Schäfer.

Is the project still relevant?

Nevertheless, Dänholm should be retained. That is currently the only halfway reliable statement that is repeatedly heard from those involved when asking about the new Academy location. “I don’t think the location question will be raised again,” said Schäfer.

It is unclear whether there will be other small academy locations in eastern Germany. Leon Eckert promotes such a much less central approach. Many training formats are now being held digitally, says the Green politician. The plans for a new building for 100 employees are no longer up to date. “I would welcome the opening of smaller training centers in southern, northern and eastern Germany in addition to the BABZ headquarters in Bad Neuenahr and an expanded online offering,” he says. This would possibly put some of the 16 applicants for the location in the East back in the running.