The ‘Cogs’ of society: the origins and politics of ‘critical’ infrastructure protection in Weimar and the Third Reich

This article traces the origins of critical infrastructure protection by examining the history of the Technische Nothilfe (TN), Germany’s leading technical emergency service, between 1919 and 1963. The TN was established as a strikebreaking force at the end of World War One. It soon found a key area of occupation in disaster response. The organization became central for maintaining flows of energy, goods, information, and people. Emergency maintainers like the TN played an overlooked role in the history of infrastructure. My analysis of this organization, which evolved into a large technological system, provides insights into the politics of critical infrastructure protection and repair. I show how the TN served as an interlocutor in the co-production of state and technology. During the Weimar Republic, the engineer-led organization enabled anti-socialist and militarized visions of a ‘well-ordered’ Germany. Throughout the Nazi era, it supported the colonization of vast regions of Europe by maintaining, repairing, and extending infrastructure. In post-war Germany, strict federal regulations and public critique led to a more communal interpretation of criticality. The article reveals that notions of criticality originate from technocratic thought, target the survival of the state, and do not contain an inherent logic toward safeguarding democratic government.