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Although the official founding date of the Prussian Geological Survey (PGL) is January 1, 1873, the establishment of this state geological survey gradually developed from the geological mapping responsibilities of the Prussian mining administration. The PGL was at first attached to the Royal Mining Academy in Berlin before becoming an independent organisation in 1907. Besides mapping the territory and safeguarding the geoscientific data of Prussia, the PGL developed special expertise concerning public health and raw material issues, the latter stimulated by war requirements during World War I. Germany, through the Imperial central government, administered colonies in Africa, Oceania and Asia up to World War I, and the PGL was then responsible for geological issues. When the Nazi Party gained government control in 1933, the federal system in Germany was changed to a centralised government. As a result, in 1938 the PGL was transformed into the Imperial Agency for Geological Investigations ("Reichsstelle", later "Reichsamt für Bodenforschung" -- RfB), and all the state geological surveys became branches of the RfB. The work of the RfB was then primarily focussed on efforts to achieve self-sufficiency, the autarchy, including the search for ore deposits and, especially, oil to fuel the military machinery for the war preparations of the Nazi regime. After the German capitulation in 1945, and following the intermediate period of allied occupied zones in Germany, the federal government system was re-established, however with a more rational state structure than before 1933. Because Lower Saxony included the principal hydrocarbon region of Germany, a strong branch of the RfB had existed in Hannover/Lower Saxony since 1934. This branch became the nucleus for the Lower Saxony Geological Survey and, later in 1958, for the German Federal Geological Survey, named the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources ("Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe" -- BGR). The separation between state tasks and federal tasks in Germany is very strict. The responsibility for geology and raw materials lies with the states. The task of the BGR is to fulfil international geoscientific obligations of Germany, such as training the geological surveys of developing countries or being the National Data Centre for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation CTBTO, which is based in Vienna. Other tasks include providing advice to the Federal Government and undertaking research and development (comprising about 40% of BGR's funds). The only tasks of the BGR within Germany relate to the overall responsibility of the Federal Government for geoscientific matters that are a state obligation, and for geoscientific aspects of the nuclear waste disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]