The DLRG is the largest voluntary lifesaving organization in the world.

[3] With around 560,000 members, organised in approximately 2,100 local groups, the DLRG is the largest voluntary water rescue organization in the world.

The most urgent goal of the DLRG is the creation and promotion of all activities used to fight drowning.

Additional tasks are: The DLRG trains interested members as qualified technical personnel in the following ranges: On 28 July 1912, a pier in Binz on the island Rügen, Germany, collapsed under the load of 1,000 people waiting for the cruise steamer Kronprinz Wilhelm.

This catastrophe led to the foundation of the "Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft (DLRG)" (German lifesaving organization) on 19 October 1913 in Leipzig.