The social welfare organisation of Germany's Protestant churches
Diakonie is the social welfare organisation of Germany’s Protestant churches. Our mission is to practise charity in the model of Jesus Christ. We operate independently and across political parties. We respect the dignity and uniqueness of every human being, and work to promote every individual’s right to independence and self-determination.
Diakonie provides aid to people in need of care, to people with disabilities or illness, to children and families, to immigrants and their families, to those struggling with addiction, and to those otherwise disadvantaged. In addition, Diakonie advocates on behalf of the underprivileged in politics and society, leading discussions on the causes of poverty and social injustice.
As the social welfare organisation of Germany’s Protestant churches, Diakonie is the place where our employees and volunteers stand up for those in need.
All of Diakonie’s work is based in the Protestant conviction. We strive to fashion ourselves after God’s unconditional love as embodied by Jesus Christ. Diakonie addresses the wants and needs of others based on the Christian view of mankind. This view includes the belief that every human being is vulnerable, and needs love and forgiveness. Some are in greater need of help than others. Diakonie carries out its mission by offering a wide range of support, including practical aid, legal representation and business ventures.
Diakonie represents the social projects of all of Germany’s Protestant churches. Diakonie Germany is the charitable organisation of the Protestant church in Germany.
Our affiliates are
The charities of the 20 regional churches associated with the Protestant church
Nine independent churches and their charities
70 agencies operating in various fields of social work, public health and child welfare
Our work includes
Approximately 28,100 inpatient and outpatient care centres – from nursing homes and hospitals to community outreach and welfare centres
Approximately 545,500 places in child care services, 171,000 places in elderly care and 153,000 places in disabled care services
Approximately 450,000 full- or part-time employees
The work of 700,000 volunteers
Approximately 3,300 self-help groups organised by the agency
The charity work of approximately 18,000 parishes belonging to both member and independent churches
Cooperation
Diakonie Deutschland is the non-profit social welfare organisation of Germany’s Protestant churches. Its members include the charities of the 21 churches belonging to the Protestant church in Germany, the charities of nine other independent churches integrated into the Diakonie Working Group, and 70 agencies operating in various fields of social work, public health and child welfare. As a charitable organisation, Diakonie Deutschland represents the interests of those it serves at the government level. It also advocates on their behalf within various national and international organisations, and in the European Union.
Together with the nation’s other leading charitable organisations, Diakonie Deutschland works to protect the social safety net of the German Constitution and to ensure that the state fulfils its duty to serve the public. Diakonie Deutschland works to represent those in need and to be a catalyst for social work and policy.
In 2012, the Diakonisches Werk der EKD merged with the Evangelische Entwicklungsdienst to form the Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung (‘Protestant Agency for Diakonie and Development’). The new agency was founded in order to meet the demands of a globalised world. The Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung carries out the church’s mission through its aid programmes Bread for the World and Diakonie Emergency Aid, as well as through the programmes of the Evangelische Entwicklungsdienst. However, it is clear that our social work at the national level and development work at the international level are becoming ever more intertwined.
While Bread for the World supports long-term development projects, Diakonie Emergency Aid provides emergency services and disaster relief in crisis situations.
The new umbrella organisation consists of the two agencies Bread for the World: Protestant Development Services and Diakonie Deutschland: Protestant Federal Association.
Diakonie for adults
Social services, education, continuing education, vocational training, housing, counselling, addiction prevention, self-help, volunteer work, community service, spiritual guidance, ecumenism (interfaith cooperation), theology, volunteer organising, information, our mission statement, history, statistics
Diakonie for senior citizens
Housing communities, outpatient assisted living centres, care at home, local services, daily care, short-term care, care in nursing homes, services for people with dementia, counselling, assistance, recreational centres, support for care-giving family members
Diakonie for women and families
Marriage counselling, women’s shelters, pregnancy consultation, adoption services, maternity centres, post-natal recovery, support for single parents, facilities for mother and child, community support, family counselling and support, parenting courses, life counselling
Diakonie for children
Support and social work, day care centres, schools, youth centres, career counselling, federal volunteer service, volunteer community service year
Diakonie for people coping with illness
Hospitals, medical and occupational rehab programmes, care at home
Diakonie for terminally ill people
Hospice, palliative care
Diakonie for people in (urgent) need
Aid for the poor, aid for the homeless, railway shelters, counselling for sex workers and victims of human trafficking, counselling for ex-convicts, debt counselling, career counselling and training, support hotlines, counselling via correspondence
Diakonie for people with disabilities
Consultation, early childhood support, pre-schools, schools, employment, integration into the workplace, assistance, support services, outpatient assisted living, counsellin
Diakonie for people with psychiatric disorders/mental illness
Consultation, therapy, counselling centres, psychiatric clinics, medical and occupational rehab, social and psychiatric services, day clinics, day care centres, assisted living centres, outpatient assisted living, transitional facilities, homes, home care/nursing, integration services
Diakonie for people struggling with addiction
Self-help groups, counselling centres and specialised clinics, therapy, inpatient rehab, detox centres, outpatient follow-up care, recovery homes
Diakonie for people between countries and cultures
Information and consultation for immigrants, specialised services for asylum seekers and refugees, immigration services for young people, information on emigration
The word diakonie evokes service to mankind based on the ideals of Christian charity. The mission to help those in need has always been a core value of the Protestant church. In the middle of the 19th century, the church created an organisation for its social work called the Innere Mission (‘Interior Mission’). The project was started in 1848 at the Wittenberg Church Conference by Hamburg theologist Johann Hinrich Wichern, who called for a systematic approach to combating spiritual and material poverty. In 1849, the Central Board for the Innere Mission was founded. Soon afterward, organisations led by the Innere Mission sprang up across the country, with legally autonomous facilities and institutions offering social services and care.
At the end of the Second World War, the Protestant church created an additional aid organisation in order to meet the specific needs of those suffering amidst the destruction of post-war Germany. The new organisation sought to attain aid from abroad to combat the nation’s hunger crisis, to facilitate the transition of displaced persons and refugees into new homes, and to support young people’s education and employment.
In 1959, the Protestant church launched the initiative Bread for the World in order to provide aid to people in developing countries. (The project was later incorporated into the Diakonisches Werk as a full-time agency.) An annual donation drive is held specifically for Bread for the World projects every Christmas.
In 1975, the Innere Mission merged with the Hilfswerk to form the Diakonisches Werk der EKD. In March 1991, the corresponding member organisations of the Protestant church in East Germany joined the Diakonisches Werk.
In 2012, the Diakonisches Werk der EKD merged with the Evangelische Entwicklungsdienst to form the Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung (Protestant Agency for Diakonie and Development).
For more information about the history of Diakonie, visit www.diakonie-geschichte.de
The crown and cross is the symbol of Diakonie and the basis for its modern logo. Designed in 1925 by Professor Richard Boeland at the Berlin School of Art, it was originally the symbol of the Innere Mission. With this in mind, Boeland sought to simultaneously represent the letters ‘I’ and ‘M’.
In 1925, the organisation’s member associations were requested to use the symbol and to display it in all of their facilities.
In 1930, it was also adopted by the International Association for the Innere Mission and by Diakonie. The Innere Mission thus became one of the first church organisations to adopt a corporate logo.
In 1975, the Diakonisches Werk der EKD was formed from the merger of the Innere Mission with the Hilfswerk, and adopted the symbol as its own. Our employees and volunteers draw inspiration from the crown and cross as they work to provide aid to those in need.