About ASB Germany

The Workers’ Samaritan Association

The Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland eV (ASB) is a nationwide, politically and religiously independent non-profit aid and welfare organization that is supported and carried by over 1.5 million members.

The ASB is divided into the federal association, 16 state associations, 194 regional, district and local associations and 131 limited liability companies. In total, the ASB employs over 50,000 full-time employees and more than 20,000 honorary and voluntary workers.

 

The voluntary members of the elected control and decision-making bodies support the work of the ASB at federal, state and local levels.
Since its beginnings in the workers’ movement in 1888, the ASB has continually developed into an innovative service provider for socially relevant tasks, orientating itself towards the needs of the people.

Read more about our work in Germany on https://www.asb.de

ASB as a charity
Areas of responsibility

Elderly care and nursing

Palliative care and
hospice services

Child, youth and
family support

Offers for people with
disabilities

The Workers’ Samaritan Association

  • First aid training
  • Rescue service and emergency preparedness
  • Civil and disaster protection
  • Medical corps
  • School health service
  • Foreign aid

The ASB history

In 1888, six carpenters from Berlin laid the foundation for today’s Workers’ Samaritan Association with the “training course on first aid in accidents” they organized. From then on, workers were to be able to independently care for accident victims in workshops and factories.

Serious accidents were common in factories and workshops in the 19th century. Photo: ASB archive.

Towards the end of the 19th century, serious accidents frequently occurred on work machines. Work safety and accident prevention regulations as they exist today were still unknown. Emergency services were still in their infancy. There was a lack of paramedics who could act quickly and competently in an emergency. There were also no trained first aiders or bandages at the workplace at that time.

When a 40-meter-long side wall collapsed on November 28, 1884 during the construction of a large warehouse on the site of the Märkische Eiswerke in Erkner, burying three carpenters, this accident and numerous other serious accidents at the time prompted the carpenter Gustav Dietrich and five of his colleagues to organize practical first aid courses. Their idea was that workers would be able to care for injured colleagues independently in the future.

Read more on https://www.asb.de/ueber-uns/geschichte