The Küstenwache is an association of several federal agencies, not a single entity like the United States Coast Guard.

The agencies that make up the Küstenwache have a common plan of action and direct their operations from two Coast Guard Centers (German: Küstenwachzentren), Neustadt (Holstein) for the Baltic Sea and Cuxhaven for the North Sea.

GLZ-See is coordinating the operational units of the federal government (Küstenwache) and the coastal states of Germany (Wasserschutzpolizei).

[1] Units and personnel from these federal agencies make up the coast guard: The personnel serving with the Küstenwache include both police officers (in the case of the Bundespolizei and Wasserzoll) and civilians from the Waterways and Shipping Office and other agencies.

The ships are all marked with the legend "Küstenwache" as well as a black-red-gold signet on the hull and the coast guard's coat-of-arms.