DRK-Generalsekretariat Suchdienst Hamburg

What DRK-Generalsekretariat Suchdienst Hamburg does

DRK-Generalsekretariat Suchdienst Hamburg is the German national tracing service operated as part of Deutsches Rotes Kreuz e.V. (German Red Cross), providing humanitarian search and family reunification services for persons separated by war, armed conflict, displacement, or migration. Its primary use cases include tracing relatives missing from World War II and German division, locating family members for refugees and asylum seekers in Germany, and supporting Spätaussiedler (ethnic German repatriates) in their immigration-related search and documentation procedures. The service was founded in May 1945 in Flensburg and relocated to Hamburg and Munich; it now operates from regional offices in Hamburg (coordination), Munich (central archive and documentation centre), and Berlin (international search division).

The organization's core technology consists of a Central Name Index (Zentrale Namenskartei) containing approximately 50 million index cards documenting over 20 million fates of persons missing from WWII, supplemented by a camp archive database covering 12,800 POW and internment sites, the ICRC-hosted Trace the Face photo-based online tracing platform (available in seven languages), and the Red Cross Messages letter-exchange system. Digitized records are integrated with the ICRC's Restoring Family Links platform and the broader network of 192 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Distribution occurs through a nationwide physical network of approximately 90 support centres and 275 district offices, online contact forms available in multiple languages, and coordinated referrals from foreign Red Cross societies.

The business model is non-commercial: all tracing services, consultations, and publications are provided free of charge to beneficiaries. Revenue is institutionally derived from German Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) funding that has been continuous for over 70 years, supplemented by Deutsches Rotes Kreuz membership fees and charitable donations. The customer base is segmented into three primary groups: descendants of WWII-era missing persons, refugees/migrants currently in Germany, and Spätaussiedler repatriate applicants. No venture funding, equity ownership, or commercial revenue streams are present.

Name

DRK-Generalsekretariat Suchdienst Hamburg

Legal name

Deutsches Rotes Kreuz e.V.

Website

https://drk-suchdienst.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The DRK-Generalsekretariat Suchdienst Hamburg is the German Red Cross national tracing service, providing free humanitarian search, family reunification, and fate-clarification support for WWII-era missing persons, refugees, migrants, and Spätaussiedler repatriates, institutionally funded by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Tracing Services

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Emergency and Other Relief Services (62423)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Diaspora, Family Reunification & Case Management Services (BPADAHAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refugee Reception & Registration (BPADAHAA), Resettlement, Relocation & Repatriation Support (BPADAHAD), Refugee & Immigrant Support Services (BPAGAEAI)

Keywords

• Humanitarian tracing services
• Missing persons search
• Family reunification
• WWII fate clarification
• Refugee family tracing

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Funding (Bundesministerium des Innern): The DRK-Suchdienst has been institutionally funded by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) for more than 70 years. This government funding supports the organization's core operations including World War II tracing, international search, and family reunification services.
2. DRK Membership and Donations: As part of the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (German Red Cross), the organization benefits from membership fees and charitable donations from the German public.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The DRK-Suchdienst (German Red Cross Tracing Service) is a humanitarian organization that searches for missing persons, re-establishes contact between separated family members, and supports family reunification in Germany. Its core services cover three areas: Suchen (Searching) for international tracing, ethnic German repatriate searches, and WWII fate clarification; Verbinden (Connecting) through Red Cross Messages and video calls across conflict lines; and Vereinen (Reuniting) through family reunification counseling for refugees and migrants in Germany.

Product overview

DRK-Suchdienst (German Red Cross Tracing Service) is a humanitarian tracing service operating as a unified, service-oriented organization rather than a technology product platform. The core offering comprises three primary service areas: (1) Suchen (Searching) — international tracing for missing persons including international search, ethnic German repatriate searches, and World War II fate clarification; (2) Verbinden (Connecting) — facilitating message exchange between separated family members via Red Cross Messages and video calls; and (3) Vereinen (Reuniting) — counseling and support for family reunification in Germany. Supporting infrastructure includes the Children's Tracing Service for separated minors, the Official Information Bureau for POW/civilian internee data, and the Archive and Documentation Centre housing the Central Name Index with 50 million records. The organization also leverages the ICRC-hosted Trace the Face platform for public photo-based searches. Services are delivered through approximately 90 support centers nationwide, supplemented by online submission forms available in multiple languages.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Trace the Face: Online photo gallery platform for tracing missing family members during migration to Europe
• Zentrale Namenskartei (Central Name Index)

Products and services

• Suchen (International Search) International search service for locating family members missing due to armed conflicts, disasters, flight, displacement, or migration. Works in coordination with the ICRC and 192 National Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies worldwide.
• Spätaussiedler (Ethnic German Repatriates Search) Specialized search service for ethnic German repatriates (Spätaussiedler) and their families separated due to resettlement from former Soviet Union, Eastern and Southeastern European countries after World War II.
• Zweiter Weltkrieg (Second World War Tracing) Tracing and fate clarification service for persons missing in connection with World War II or the division of Germany, including Wehrmacht soldiers, civilians, prisoners of war, interned civilians, children separated during flight and expulsion, and those in Soviet special camps.
• Vereinen (Family Reunification Counseling) Family reunification counseling and support service for persons separated by armed conflicts, disasters, flight, displacement, or migration, assisting with legal requirements and practical procedures for reuniting families in Germany.
• Verbinden (Red Cross Messages) Message exchange service enabling correspondence between family members separated by crises, using Red Cross Messages (RCM) sent via the international tracing network, including video telephone facilitation for families in prisons and conflict zones worldwide.
• Kindersuchdienst (Children's Tracing Service) Specialized service for searching children separated from their families due to flight, forced displacement, or evacuation during World War II, with photo-based identification capabilities.
• Amtliches Auskunftsbüro (Official Information Bureau) Official bureau collecting data on prisoners of war and civilian internees who fell into enemy hands, forwarding this information to the ICRC Central Tracing Service.
• Archiv und Dokumentationsstelle (Archive and Documentation Centre) Centralized archive containing approximately 50 million index cards documenting over 20 million fates of persons missing from World War II, including the Central Name Index, databases on special fate groups, and camp archives with information on 12,800 POW and internment camp sites.
• Trace the Face Photo-based online tracing platform hosted by ICRC enabling migrants and refugees to search for missing family members directly; available in seven languages (Arabic, Dari, English, French, Pashto, Somali, Spanish), with a password-protected section for unaccompanied minor refugees.

Quantifiable outcome

• 43% of WWII missing persons cases receive fate-clarifying information
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• German Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI)coreOthers · 22 June 2016The DRK-Suchdienst has been institutionally funded by the BMI for over 70 years. The ministry organizes commemorative events including the Memorial Day for Victims of Flight and Displacement and UN World Refugee Day.
• German Foreign Office / Russian Foreign Ministry (Joint Project)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 June 2016Joint German-Russian cooperation project on the search for and digitization of archive documents on Soviet and German prisoners of war and internees. Aims to clarify personal fates of people from both countries.
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)coreTechnology or IntegrationThe DRK-Suchdienst operates as part of the global tracing network coordinated by the ICRC's Central Tracing Service. Data can be exchanged between 191 National Societies and the ICRC for tracing purposes. The ICRC provides access to the Restoring Family Links platform and coordinates cross-border tracing operations.
• National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (192 national societies)coreTechnology or IntegrationThe DRK-Suchdienst works with all 192 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for international tracing requests. Families in other countries first contact their local Red Cross society, which then forwards requests to the DRK-Suchdienst for investigation in Germany.
• German Historical Institute MoscowminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartner in the German-Russian database and research project, contributing historical expertise and access to Russian archives.
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperates with UNHCR on practical issues arising during family reunification procedures, particularly for refugees with children remaining in origin or transit countries.
• International Social Service (ISS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperates on clarifying practical issues in family reunification procedures, including support for unaccompanied minors left in origin or transit countries.
• International Organisation for Migration (IOM)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperates on family reunification support, including registration of relatives in transit countries to enable later departure.
• Central Information and Referral Centre (ZAuV)minorOthersContact point for questions related to politically motivated adoptions in former GDR. Refers affected persons to appropriate search options and responsible offices.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• International Social Service (ISS): Cooperates with DRK-Suchdienst on family reunification procedures, including unaccompanied minors. Directly comparable bilateral child and family welfare intermediary operating across borders.
• Arolsen Archives (formerly International Tracing Service): International centre on Nazi persecution documents containing records on victims and survivors of National Socialism. Operates the world's most comprehensive archive on WWII displacement and refers inquirers to DRK-Suchdienst when German-specific research is required.
• Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archives): Partner in the German-Russian database project, holding military records, death notices, identification tag lists, and Wehrmacht office records. Closely aligned archival and documentation peer for WWII-related inquiries.
• Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (VDK): German War Graves Commission that coordinates the German-Russian database project and maintains the 'Grave Search Online' with information on nearly 5 million war casualties. Closely aligned with DRK-Suchdienst on WWII-era fate clarification.

Regional players

• Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF): German federal agency for asylum procedures that DRK-Suchdienst supports with Spätaussiedler admission documentation and refugee tracing. The government counterpart that processes cases after tracing identifies separated family members.

Others

• Caritas Germany: German Catholic welfare organization that provides refugee family reunification support and integration services. Thematically adjacent humanitarian services operator, though without DRK-Suchdienst's specific tracing mandate.
• Yad Vashem: World Holocaust Remembrance Center with extensive databases on Holocaust victims. Comparable archival mission for WWII victim tracing, though focused on Jewish victims specifically rather than the broader fate-clarification mandate.

Broad incumbents

• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): Global parent of the international tracing network and operator of the Restoring Family Links platform hosting Trace the Face. Direct counterpart for DRK-Suchdienst on cross-border cases and the originator of the humanitarian tracing mandate under the Geneva Conventions.
• International Organization for Migration (IOM): Cooperates with DRK-Suchdienst on family reunification support, including registration of relatives in transit countries. Provides similar services for migrants globally with a broader operational scope.
• UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency): Global refugee agency that DRK-Suchdienst cooperates with on practical family reunification issues, particularly for refugees with separated children. Adjacent rather than directly competitive, but overlapping mandate for refugee family tracing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TraceTheFaceMigrantsEurope
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/drk-generalsekretariat-suchdienst-hamburg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DRK-Generalsekretariat Suchdienst Hamburg