The History of the German Red Cross

The history of the German Red Cross is more than 150 years old. In 1863 the first Red Cross Society in the world was founded in Baden-Württemberg. The idea of helping people alone according to the degree of need, without paying attention to skin color, religion or nationality, goes back to the Swiss Henry Dunant.
Jörg F. Müller / DRK

The seven principles of the German Red Cross

1. Humanity
2. Impartiality
3. Neutrality
4. Independence
5. Voluntariness
6. Unity
7. Universality

Our mission statement

We at the Red Cross are part of a global community of people in the international Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that provide indiscriminate help to victims of conflict and disasters, as well as other people in need, based solely on their need. In the name of humanity, we are committed to life, health, well-being, protection, peaceful coexistence and the dignity of all people.

Our mission

It is the task of the Red Cross to spread the rules of international humanitarian law so that the participants in armed conflicts can know and implement them in an emergency. It is also part of its mandate to call for parties to comply with international humanitarian law in an armed conflict. At the heart of it are the Geneva Conventions.
The Battle of Solferino: Birth of the Red Cross Idea
Henry Dunant was a businessman in Italy in 1859, when he witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino, the decisive battle between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia and its allied France in the Sardinian War. The 31-year-old had a terrible picture. Soldiers were lying close to each other on roadsides, in squares and in churches. Dunant experienced the horror of the greatest armory of that time in all its brutality.

The businessman forgot his original mission and looked after the wounded and the dying. He washed out dirty wounds, distributed food and water, gave courage. Dunant also provided supplies of bandages and food. Because professional help was lacking everywhere, Dunant asked local people to help - women, children and men helped. "Sono tutti fratelli" - we are all brothers - they said and cared for everyone injured regardless of their nationality.

When Dunant found out that the French had captured Austrian doctors, he went to the French ruler. He allowed the Austrian doctors to participate in the relief effort. Together with Dunant, these volunteers practiced for the first time the principle of what would later become the Red Cross: that all wounded soldiers should be treated neutrally and equally.


The idea becomes a reality
One of the first to congratulate Dunant was the Geneva Gustave Moynier, a brilliant lawyer and proven organizer. He was president of the private nonprofit of Geneva and was able to get Dunant to speak to twenty distinguished citizens of the city, including General Guillaume-Henri Dufour.

The gathering instructed five attendees to come up with a plan to implement Dunant's idea of ​​"supporting belligerent armies through corps of volunteer nurses". The five-member committee, known as the "Permanent International Committee" - the future International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - was made up of General Henri Dufour as President, Gustave Moynier as Vice President, Dunant as Secretary and the two doctors Louis Appia, a specialist in Surgery, and Théodore Maunoir, a medical professional with international experience.

For his services, Henry Dunant received the Nobel Peace Prize together with Frédéric Passy in 1901.
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