TheFederal Ministry of the Interior (German:Bundesministerium des Innern,pronounced[ˈbʊndəsminɪsˌteːʁiʊmdɛsˈʔɪnɐnʔʊntfyːɐ̯ˈhaɪmaːt]^ⓘ; abbreviatedBMI) is acabinet-level ministry of theFederal Republic of Germany. Its main office is inBerlin, with a secondary seat inBonn. The current minister isAlexander Dobrindt. It is comparable to the UKHome Office or a combination of theUS Department of Homeland Security and theUS Department of Justice, because both manage several law enforcement agencies. The BMI is tasked with the internal security of Germany. To fulfill this responsibility it maintains, among other agencies, the two biggest federal law enforcement agencies in Germany, theFederal Police (including theGSG 9) and theFederal Criminal Police Office. It is also responsible for the federal domestic intelligence agency, theFederal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Federal Ministry of the Interior

Bundesministerium des Innern
Agency overview
Formed	24 December 1879 (145 years ago) (1879-12-24) as theReichsamt des Inneren 23 May 1949 (76 years ago) (1949-05-23) in the current form
Jurisdiction	Government of Germany
Headquarters	Alt-Moabit 140 10557Berlin 52°31′17″N13°21′44″E / 52.52139°N 13.36222°E /52.52139; 13.36222
Employees	60,000 (subordinate agencies)[1] 1,500 (ministry)
Annual budget	€18.458 billion (2021)[2]
Minister responsible	Alexander Dobrindt, Federal Minister of the Interior
Agency executives	Christoph de Vries, Parliamentary State Secretary Daniela Ludwig, Parliamentary State Secretary
Child agencies	Federal Police Federal Office for Migration and Refugees Federal Criminal Police Office Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Federal Office of Administration Technisches Hilfswerk Federal Statistical Office of Germany Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance Federal Office for Information Security Federal Agency for Civic Education Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy Procurement Agency of the Federal Ministry of the Interior Federal Institute of Sport Science Federal Institute for Population Research
Website	www.bmi.bund.de

TheReichsamt des Innern (Imperial Office of the Interior) was theMinistry of the Interior of theGerman Empire. On the proposal of theReichskanzlerOtto von Bismarck it was created on 24 December 1879 by an Imperial decree from theReich Chancellery. Like the other Imperial Offices it was directly under the control of the Reichskanzler. The seat of the office was in Berlin and it was managed by aSecretary of State, who from 1881 until 1916 also simultaneously held the office ofVice-Chancellor. Thegazette for the publication of official notices was run by the Office from 1880. Entitled theZentralblatt für das Deutsche Reich (ZBl), it had been published by the Reich Chancellery from 1873 until 1879.

With theLaw on the Provisional Imperial Government [de] of 11 February 1919, the Imperial Office became theReichsministerium des Innern (RMI) (Ministry of the Interior) which remained the German Ministry of the Interior during theWeimar Republic andNazi Germany. From 1923 until 1945, the ministry published the government gazette, which was entitled theReichsministerialblatt (RMBl). On 1 November 1934 it was united with thePrussian Ministry of the Interior as theReichs- und Preußischen Ministerium des Innern (Imperial and Prussian Ministry of the Interior).^[3]

In 1949, the Imperial Ministry of the Interior (effectively defunct since the end of the war in Europe in 1945) was succeeded by the present Federal Ministry, though it served as the Interior Ministry forWest Germany only untilGerman reunification in 1990. From 1949 to 1970, 54% of the ministry's department leaders were formerNazi Party members, their share peaking at 66% in 1961.^[4]

Under theFourth Merkel cabinet, which took office in February 2018, the Ministry of the Interior was merged with the building department, which had been included in theministry of transport from 1998 to 2013, and theenvironment ministry from 2013 to 2018. The ministry, headed by the formerBavarian minister-presidentHorst Seehofer, was then renamed to "Interior, Building and Homeland". The renaming was controversial as some interpreted the termHeimat as old-fashioned or even nationalistic.^[5][6][7]

The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for internal security and the protection of the constitutional order, for civil protection against disasters and terrorism, for displaced persons, administrative questions, and sports. It is host to the Standing Committee of Interior Ministers and also drafts all passport, identity card, firearms, and explosives legislation.The ministry also houses the Joint Anti-Terrorism Center formed in 2004 which is an information-sharing and analytical forum for allGerman police andintelligence agencies involved in the fight against terrorism.

The minister is supported by two parliamentarystate secretaries and five state secretaries who manage the ministry's various departments.

state secretaries #1 and #2

• "P" Department (Abteilung P) is the ministry's police department and has two branches: law enforcement and counter-terrorism. It analyses crime control issues and develops concepts and drafts laws to improve law enforcement and crime prevention efforts. It also manages theFederal Criminal Police Office, coordinatespolice support group deployments and represents federal interests in the sport and security arena. Due to Germany's federal structure, it can only promote internal security and public safety by cooperating with thestate police forces and with agencies within theEuropean Union (EU) and beyond.
• "IS" Department (Abteilung IS) is the internal security department that protects the German state against political extremism. It exercises supervisory control over theFederal Office for Constitution Protection, studies extremist groups and can ban them as a final resort. In addition, the department is responsible for the security of classified information and prevention of sabotage and espionage. It also manages civil defense and emergency management efforts at the national level and exercises supervisory control over the Civil Protection Center andFederal Agency for Technical Relief.
• "B" Department (Abteilung B) supervises and managesGerman Federal Police operations.
• "M" Department (Abteilung M) is responsible forimmigration,integration,refugees and European harmonisation.
• "Z" Department (Abteilung Z) is the central office.
• "D" Department (Abteilung D) is responsible for thecivil service.
• "O" Department (Abteilung O) is responsible for administrative modernisation and organisation.
• "V" Department (Abteilung V) is responsible for constitutional, state, administrative and European law.

state secretary #3

• "G" Department (Abteilung G) is responsible for policy, Europe and international developments
• "H" Department (Abteilung H) is responsible for society affairs
• "SP" Department (Abteilung SP) is responsible forsport.

state secretary #4

• department digital society
• department digital state
• department cyber security

state secretary #5

• 2 departments on construction, housing and public buildings

• List of German interior ministers

•   Media related toBundesministerium des Innern at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website