Part-time firemen!

The first voluntary fire brigade is established in Meißen

Since the Middle Ages, urban councils were responsible for organizing the response to the fires that regularly devastated whole quarters of the half-timber towns and cities dotted across Germany. Lacking a professional fire brigade, Meißen town council required every citizen to make themselves available to fight fires and threatened any who refused to do so with prison or expulsion. This ad hoc system proved to be inefficient, and the 18th and 19th centuries saw the town’s aldermen make several attempts to organise a voluntary fire protection service.

In another attempt to establish a volunteer group of committed fire fighters, the town council made an appeal in 1840 for volunteers to join what it called a “voluntary fire-fighting and rescue corps”. After more than 130 people had registered within just a few days, the council issued their new firemen with fetching grey uniforms and invited them to Meißen Town Hall on 17 July 1841 for a swearing-in ceremony. The volunteer fire brigade in Meißen was the first of its kind and provided the model for the thousands of local volunteer fire brigades set up since. These have been joined by a hundred professional fire and rescue services throughout Germany. The state authorities decide which area needs a professional service, usually in large cities with a population of 100,000 or more.