Organizational structure
Like every other federal ministry, the Federal Ministry of the Interior is made up of directorates-general, directorates and divisions. The Federal Minister presides over this structure, followed by the parliamentary state secretaries and the state secretaries with civil servant status.
The organizational units within the ministry are the directorates-general, directorates and divisions.
Directorates-general
Each directorate-general is made up of directorates and divisions with tasks related to the same general area. Each directorate-general is usually headed by a civil servant with the rank of Ministerialdirektor/Ministerialdirektorin; as political appointees, they may be suspended from service at any time.
Below the executive level, i.e. that of the minister and the state secretaries, the head of a directorate-general represents the highest level of decision-making authority for the tasks within a particular subject area.
The directors-general advise the minister, the state secretaries and the parliamentary state secretaries on matters related to their subject area and are responsible for ensuring the flow of information between the executive level and their directorate-general. The Federal Ministry of the Interior currently has ten directorates-general, as well as an Office of the Chief Information Officer and an Office of the Director for European Union Affairs.
Directorates
In order to enhance coordination, divisions with related tasks are grouped together into directorates.
Directors, who usually hold the civil service rank of Ministerialdirigent/Ministerialdirigentin, are responsible for management and planning within their directorate and for supporting the directors-general in carrying out their duties.
Divisions
The divisions are the smallest organizational unit within a ministry, where the material work of the ministry is carried out.
The division head, who usually holds the civil service rank of Ministerialrat/Ministerialrätin, is responsible for all subject- and personnel-related tasks related to managing and leading the division and determines the distribution of tasks within the division; in addition, the division head should assume direct responsibility for key tasks.
Division staff consists of desk officers, who are civil servants or non-civil-service employees in the higher service ranks; and assistant desk officers and clerks, who are civil servants or non-civil-service employees in the higher intermediate or intermediate service, respectively.
Communications, Command and Control Centre
The Communications, Command and Control Centre, which is part of Directorate-General KM: Crisis Management and Civil Protection, is not a typical division: The centre is staffed round the clock to gather, analyse and forward information relevant for the security authorities at state, federal and international level.
