Abstract
In 2013, large floods affected Germany heavily. The natural disaster transcended jurisdictional and organisational boundaries, necessitating a coordinative effort by disaster relief forces and their administrative and political leadership. In the aftermath, politicians and experts praised the improvement of the German system of crisis management, also in direct comparison with the response to the last German “flood of the century” of 2002. This chapter takes a public policy and organisational perspective to analyse the German disaster relief governance throughout all four crisis management phases. By highlighting the central features of the German governance arrangements and the main organisational changes implemented in reaction to the previous flood in 2002, we find that Whole-of-Government approaches are increasingly used by the federal and Länder government.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ansell, C., A. Boin, and A. Keller. 2010. Managing Transboundary Crises: Identifying the Building Blocks of an Effective Response System. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management 18 (4): 195–207.
Boin, A., P. ’t Hart, E. Stern, and B. Sundelius. 2005. The Politics of Crisis Management. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bundesministerium des Inneren (BMI). 2013. Kabinettbericht Fluthilfe, pp. 1–19.
Bundesregierung. 2002. 5-Punkte-Programm der Bundesregierung. Arbeitsschritte zur Verbesserung des vorbeugenden Hochwasserschutzes.
Christensen, T., and P. Lægreid. 2007. The Whole-of-Government Approach to Public Sector Reform. Public Administration Review 67 (6): 1059–1066.
Christensen, T., P. Lægreid, and L.H. Rykkja. 2014. Crisis Management Organization: Building Governance Capacity and Legitimacy. Stein Rokkan Centre for Social Studies Working Paper Series. Working Paper 11-2014.
Christensen, T., P. Lægreid, and L.H. Rykkja. 2016. Organizing for Crisis Management: Building Governance Capacity and Legitimacy. Public Administration Review 76 (6): 887–897.
Comfort, L.K., A. Boin, and C.C. Demchak (eds.). 2010. Designing Resilience: Preparing for Extreme Events. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press.
de Bruijne, M., A. Boin, and M. van Eeten. 2010. Resilience: Exploring the Concept and Its Meaning. In Designing Resilience: Preparing for Extreme Events, ed. L.K. Comfort, A. Boin, and C.C. Demchak. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press.
DKKV (ed.). 2004. Hochwasservorsorge in Deutschland. Lernen aus der Katastrophe 2002 im Elbegebiet. DKKV-Schriftenreihe Nr. 29.
DKKV (ed.). 2015. Das Hochwasser im Juni 2013: Bewährungsprobe für das Hochwasserrisikomanagement in Deutschland. DKKV-Schriftenreihe Nr. 53, Bonn.
Gundel, S. 2005. Towards a New Typology of Crisis. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management 13 (3): 106–115.
Jann, W., and K. Wegrich. 2008. Wie bürokratisch ist Deutschland? Und warum? Generalisten und Spezialisten im Entbürokratisierungsspiel. dms – der moderne staat – Zeitschrift für Public Policy, Recht und Management, Heft 1 (1): 49–72.
Jann, W., and K. Wegrich. 2009. Specialists and Generalists in Executive Politics. Paper Presented at the Panel on ‘Theoretical Perspectives on Government Organizations’, ECPR General Conference, Potsdam.
Jantz, B., and W. Jann. 2015. GOVCAP Mapping Report Germany. Working Paper, Uni Research Rokkan Centre, Bergen.
Kahzai, B., T. Bessel, S. Möhrle, et al. 2013. Juni-Hochwasser 2013 in Mitteleuropa - Fokus Deutschland: Bericht 2: Auswirkungen und Bewältigung. Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM), 1–22.
Krieger, K. 2013. The Limits and Variety of Risk-Based Governance: The Case of Flood Management in Germany and England. Regulation & Governance 7: 236–257.
Pfohl, T.N. 2014. Katastrophenmanagement in Deutschland: Eine Governance-Analyse. Berlin: LIT.
Rosenthal, U., P. ’t Hart, and A. Kouzmin. 1991. The Bureau Politics of Crisis Management. Public Administration 69 (22): 211–233.
Sächsisches Landesamt für Umwelt und Geologie. 2002. Ereignisanalyse. Hochwasser August 2002 in den Osterzgebirgsflüssen.
Schulze-Gabrechten, L., and L.H. Rykkja. 2017. Increasing Government Capacity for Crisis Management? Crisis-Induced Changes for Flood Management in Germany and Norway. Paper Presented at the NOPSA Conference, Odense, August.
Von Kirchbach, H.-P. 2002. Bericht der Unabhängigen Kommission der Sächsischen Staatsregierung Flutkatastrophe.
Von Kirchbach, H.-P. 2013. Bericht der Kommission der Sächsischen Staatsregierung zur Untersuchung der Flutkatastrophe.
WWF. 2007. Fünf Jahre nach der Elbflut. Wurden und werden öffentliche Finanzhilfen im Sinne eines nachhaltigen Hochwasserschutzes verwendet?
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jann, W., Jantz, B., Kühne, A., Schulze-Gabrechten, L. (2019). The Flood Crisis in Germany 2013. In: Lægreid, P., Rykkja, L.H. (eds) Societal Security and Crisis Management. New Security Challenges. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92303-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92303-1_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-92302-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-92303-1
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)