GSG 9

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "GSG 9" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Border Guard Group 9 of Federal Police
GSG 9 der Bundespolizei
GSG 9 badge
Active	26 September 1972
Country	Germany
Agency	German Federal Police
Type	Police tactical unit
Role	Law enforcement Counter-terrorism
Part of	Bundespolizeidirektion 11
Headquarters	Sankt Augustin
Abbreviation	GSG 9
Structure
Operators	Approx. 400
Commanders
Current commander	Robert Hemmerling
Notable commanders	Inaugural commander Ulrich Wegener
Notables
Significant operation(s)	Lufthansa Flight 181 Arrest of Birgit Hogefeld, Wolfgang Grams
Website
Official website

GSG 9 der Bundespolizei, formerly Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (German for 'Border Guard Group 9'), is an elite special forces unit of the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei) to combat terrorism and violent and organized crime.^[1] In addition to its headquarters location in Sankt Augustin-Hangelar near Bonn, it has a second location in Berlin.^[1] Since 1 August 2017, it has been subordinate to the Federal Police Directorate 11.^[1] The state police (Landespolizei) maintain their own regional tactical units known as the Spezialeinsatzkommando (SEK). The GSG 9 unit is made up of approximately 400 highly trained police officers and the identities of GSG 9 members are classified.^[1][2] The specialised unit operates not only within Germany on a federal level, but also safeguards German interests located worldwide, such as embassy property and personnel.^[1] Alongside the KSK military special forces of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr), the GSG 9 can also be authorized to rescue citizens abroad in hostage situations.^[3]