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Curriculum Vitae

Gerold Reichenbach

  • Date / Place of birth: 28 September 1953, Geinsheim
  • Marital status: married

Education

  • 1972: Obtained Abitur (school-leaving certificate giving right of entry to  university)
  • 1972 – 1978: Studied German literature and linguistics and social science at the JohannWolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt
  • 1979 – 1980: Teacher training in Rüsselsheim

Professional career

  • 1981 – 1995: academic secondary school teacher in Darmstadt and later Groß-Gerau

Political career

  • Since 1976: Member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
  • 1980 – 1981: Chairman of the Groß-Gerau subdistrict branch of the JUSO (youth section of the SPD)
  • 1981 – 1999: Member of Trebur municipal council (1985 – 1994: chairman of the committee on social affairs, culture and sport)
  • 1984 – 1990: Member of the executive committee of the Groß-Gerau subdistrict branch of the SPD; chairman from 2008-2010
  • 1988-2010: Member of Groß-Gerau county council
  • 1995-2002: directly elected Member of the Land Parliament of Hesse; member of the Committee on Agriculture and the Environment and of the Committee on Economics and Transport
  • Spokesman on housing and urban development of the SPD parliamentary group in the Land Parliament of Hesse
  • 1998/99 and 2001-2015: Member of the executive committee of the Hesse Southdistrict branch of the SPD
  • 2002-2017: elected Member of the German Bundestag
  • 2002 – 2013 Member of the Committee on Internal Affairs and of the Subcommittee on Civic Activities
  • 2014-2017 Member of the Committee on Internal Affairs and member and substitute chairman of the Committee on Digital Agenda; SPD rapporteur for civil protection and disaster management, data security and data protection on the Committee on Internal Affairs; SPD rapporteur for IT security, data security and data protection on the Committee Digital Agenda; Member of the advisory board of the foundation for data protection

Honorary commitments

  • 1974 – 1980: Youth welfare volunteer, Groß-Gerau county
  • 1989 – 1995: Honorary judge at Darmstadt Regional Court
  • Since 1976: Volunteer helper for the Federal Agency for Technical and Disaster Relief (THW)
  • 1998 - 2018  President of the Hess branch of the THW association
  • 1999- 2018 Member of the federal board of the THW association
  • 2015-2017: member of the advisory board of the “Marktwächter Digitale Welt” of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv e.V.)

Participation in national and international disaster relief missions

  • 1991 and 1999: Urban search and rescue missions in Costa Rica and Turkey (earthquakes)
  • 1992: Emergency food aid in Russia
  • 1994, during Bosnian war (Mostar): Assessment and fact finding mission
  • 1995: Urban search and rescue mission for missing people after the collapse of the “Red Tower” in Jena
  • 1997: Member of the operational command and control post during the River Oder flood disaster on the German-Polish border
  • 1999: Deputy head of mission for the Humanitarian THW Aid for Refugees during the war in Kosovo
  • 2000: Assessment and fact finding mission during flood disaster in Mozambique
  • 2002: Member of a operational command and control post during the River Elbe flood disaster
  • 2002: Member of a operational command and control post during the River Elbe flood disaster
  • 2021: Member of a emergency management team during the flood disaster in the Ahrtal

Experience in disaster management (selection)

  • Has held several positions in the Federal Agency for Technical and Disaster Relief (THW)
  • Member (currently inactive) of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination standby team (UNDAC)
  • Member of the Groß-Gerau county disaster management board
  • THW  liaison officer
  • Member of the THW special unit SEEBA (Rapid Deployment Unit Urban Search and Rescue)

Membership of associations

  • Building, Agricultural and Environmental Workers’ Union (IG Bau) Further civic engagement
  • Trebur society for home and history
  • Friends of Nature
  • Groß-Gerau and Rüsselsheim branch of the THW association
  • Geinsheim volunteer fire brigade
  • National Association for Workers' Welfare (AWO)
  • D64 – Centre for digital Progres

Honors

  • 2004 Medal of Honor of the Federal Agency for Technical Relief in Gold
  • 2009 Silver Disaster Protection Merit Medal of the State of Hesse
  • 2010 Decoration of Honor of the German Red Cross
  • 2011 Gold Medal from the THW Federal Association
  • 2016 Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 2017 German Fire Brigade Cross of Honor in silver
  • 2018 Golden Disaster Protection Medal of the State of Hesse
  • 2020 Honorary Chairman of the THW Landesvereinigung Hessen
  • 2023 Medal of the THW President
  • 2023 Medal of Honor of the German Fire Brigade Association