Germany

Volunteering has a long tradition in Germany and is an important part of civil society and German culture. Historically, volunteering appeared in the social context as an act of helping others. As such, volunteering was, and still is, understood as an honorable position which is typically undertaken without any form of monetary remuneration or only a small remuneration in the form of a lump-sum or indirect benefits like tax reductions. In sports, volunteering plays an important role. There are different forms of volunteering. One form is volunteering in nonprofit sports clubs in a fixed position on the voluntary board. Such a position is reached through democratic elections of club members. This form of volunteering is called Ehrenamt and is the classical form of volunteering. Moreover, many sports clubs rely on voluntary helpers or secondary volunteers, that is, volunteers in non-fixed positions. These volunteers are called Freiwillige. Third, volunteering takes place outside of sports clubs, mainly at large sport events. Recent large-scale events in Germany where volunteers offered support were, for example, the Track and Field World Championships 2009 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011.