Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe

The Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe (BAG W) is a German umbrella association (Arbeitsgemeinschaft) of the responsible and competent social organisations in the private and public sector, as well as private and public-law providers of social services and facilities for homeless people. It was founded in 1954 in Bielefeld-Bethel as the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Nichtsesshaftenhilfe and renamed in 1991 to its current designation, deliberately moving away from the older term 'Nichtsesshafte' (roughly 'person without a fixed abode'), which had been coined in 1938 and implied that those affected had an 'uninhibited urge to wander' — attributing housing loss to personal deficits. Its seat was in Bielefeld from 1954 to 2013 and has been in Berlin since then. The managing director is Sabine Bösing and the chair is Susanne Hahmann. BAG W is a registered association (eingetragener Verein) with non-profit status. Its members comprise more than 1,000 legal entities, including welfare associations and specialised associations such as EBET, municipal providers and non-profit organisations, as well as individual members. It finances itself through membership fees and, substantially, through public grants, especially from the federal budget, and through economic activities. As a Dachverband (umbrella organisation) for social services, facilities and providers working with homeless people or those at risk of homelessness, it represents the interests of homelessness service providers at political and societal level. Its main tasks include coordination and networking — promoting professional exchange between municipal and non-profit homelessness aid institutions and with adjacent help systems such as social work, health and housing policy; political advocacy — working to overcome homelessness, for example by supporting the National Action Plan against Homelessness, which aims to achieve this goal by 2030; and lobbying and public relations — informing about the causes and effects of homelessness and sensitising the public, for instance through press statements, parliamentary breakfasts or travelling exhibitions such as 'Wohnungslose im Nationalsozialismus' (Homeless People under National Socialism). The organisation works closely with political institutions and other associations such as EBET and the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) to promote solutions at national and European level. In its public communication BAG W addresses current policy developments. In September 2026 it joined the initiative 'Digital für alle', strengthening the broad societal alliance with the perspective of homelessness aid and of people threatened by or affected by homelessness and social exclusion. It also criticised the German government's action plan against social benefit abuse, warning that the planned tightening would not hit organised abuse but people who have lived, worked or sought work in Germany for years, further worsening the already precarious situation of homeless EU citizens. On the Day of Homeless People it honoured three projects that enable active participation and co-determination by people with their own experience of homelessness, with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier attending as guest of honour.

The Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe was founded in 1954 in Bielefeld-Bethel as the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Nichtsesshaftenhilfe. Its seat remained in Bielefeld until 2013, when it moved to Berlin. In 1991 the organisation was renamed to its current designation, the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe, in order to distance itself from the older term 'Nichtsesshafte'. That term, coined in 1938, attributed an 'uninhibited urge to wander' to those affected, framing the loss of housing as a personal deficit rather than a structural social problem. The renaming reflected a broader shift in the understanding of homelessness and the language used to describe it. Over the decades BAG W developed into an umbrella association (Dachverband) for social services, facilities and providers working with homeless people or those at risk of homelessness. It is a registered association with non-profit status. Its members include more than 1,000 legal entities — welfare associations and specialised associations such as EBET, municipal providers and non-profit organisations — as well as individual members. It finances itself through membership fees and, substantially, through public grants, especially from the federal budget, and through economic activities. BAG W represents the interests of homelessness service providers at political and societal level. Its main tasks are coordination and networking between municipal and non-profit homelessness aid institutions and with adjacent help systems such as social work, health and housing policy; political advocacy to overcome homelessness, including support for the National Action Plan against Homelessness aiming to achieve this by 2030; and lobbying and public relations to inform about the causes and effects of homelessness. It works closely with political institutions and other associations such as EBET and the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) to promote solutions at national and European level. It also makes available a travelling exhibition, 'Wohnungslose im Nationalsozialismus' (Homeless People under National Socialism). In September 2026 BAG W joined the initiative 'Digital für alle', strengthening the broad societal alliance with the perspective of homelessness aid and of people threatened by or affected by homelessness and social exclusion. It also publicly criticised the federal government's action plan against social benefit abuse, arguing that the planned tightening would not target organised abuse but people who have lived, worked or sought work in Germany for years, and would further worsen the precarious situation of homeless EU citizens. On the Day of Homeless People it honoured three projects that enable active participation and co-determination by people with their own experience of homelessness, with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier attending as guest of honour.

• 2026

  Joined the initiative 'Digital für alle'.

• 2013

  Seat moved from Bielefeld to Berlin.

• 1991

  Renamed to Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe, distancing from the term 'Nichtsesshafte'.

• 1954

  Founded in Bielefeld-Bethel as Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Nichtsesshaftenhilfe.

Umbrella association and political advocacy body for homelessness service providers in Germany, working nationally and with European partners such as FEANTSA.

• Umbrella association membership

• Political advocacy and lobbying

• Coordination and networking of homelessness services

• Public relations and travelling exhibitions

• Parliamentary breakfasts

1. 1Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe e.V. – official websitebagw.de
2. 2Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
3. 3Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe – Wikidatawikidata.org