The German Federal Coast Guard ( German : Küstenwache des Bundes ) is a civilian law enforcement organisation whose primary missions are border protection, maritime environmental protection, shipping safety, fishery protection and customs enforcement. The Küstenwache is an association of several federal agencies, not a single entity like the United States Coast Guard .
6-625: The agencies that make up the Küstenwache have a common plan of action and direct their operations from two Coast Guard Centers (German: Küstenwachzentren ), Neustadt (Holstein) for the Baltic Sea and Cuxhaven for the North Sea . Since 2007 the Joint Situation Center Sea (GLZ-See) is in service. GLZ-See is coordinating the operational units of the federal government (Küstenwache) and
12-468: A military unit as many other coast guards are. In contrast, the United States Coast Guard is both a military service and a law enforcement organisation and its commissioned officers have both police and military powers. However, police officers serving with the Küstenwache retain their usual police powers, adjusted to the maritime nature of their job. A total of 27 ships and boats from
18-1031: The Bundespolizei , green for the Zoll and black for the WSV and BLE. A number of helicopters and planes are in use as well. Some Ships: Neustadt in Holstein Neustadt in Holstein ( German: [ˈnɔʏʃtat ʔɪn ˈhɔlʃtaɪn] ; Holsatian: Niestadt in Holsteen ) is a town in the district of Ostholstein , in Schleswig-Holstein , Germany , on the Bay of Lübeck 30 km northeast of Lübeck , and 50 km southeast of Kiel . In World War II , subcamp Number 1049 Neustadt in Holstein/Schleswig-Holstein
24-510: The coastal states of Germany ( Wasserschutzpolizei ). Units and personnel from these federal agencies make up the coast guard: The personnel serving with the Küstenwache include both police officers (in the case of the Bundespolizei and Wasserzoll ) and civilians from the Waterways and Shipping Office and other agencies. Küstenwache personnel do not have combatant status as it is not
30-444: The aforementioned institutions are in operation ( Bundespolizei : six ships; Wasserzoll : eight customs cutters, four customs cruisers; WSV: three multi-purpose ships; BLE: two fishery protection boats, three fishery research ships). The ships are all marked with the legend "Küstenwache" as well as a black-red-gold signet on the hull and the coast guard's coat-of-arms . However, the hull colour differs from agency to agency: blue for
36-619: Was part of the Neuengamme concentration camp . In the closing hours of the Second World War, several ships, including SS Cap Arcona , were sunk in the bay to the South of Neustadt. Almost 7,000 passengers from two of these ships, survivors of concentration camps, drowned swimming in 45-degree (Fahrenheit; 12.3 degrees Celsius) water toward the lighthouse on the Pelzerhaken shore or were shot by
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