Heimatschutz is a German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 word which literally translated means, "homeland protection."
In 1916, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n Max Dvorak

Max Dvorák

Max Dvořák was a Czech-born Austrian art historian...

's Katechismus der DenkmalpfIege appeared. In this book Dvorak builds upon the ideas of fellow Austrian Alois Riegl

Alois Riegl

Alois Riegl was an Austrian art historian, and is considered a member of the Vienna School of Art History...

 and extends the idea of "homeland protection" beyond simply protection of geographical borders to encapsulate a society's culture.

At the end of the First World War Heimatschutz groups appear in Austria to protect German culture. In 1930 these groups become part of the Austrian government. In 1933 become part of the Vaterländische Front (Front of the Fatherland). When Austria was annexed by Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1938 the Vaterländische Front was disbanded and the Heimatschutz groups were deported to concentration camps by the SA and later the SS.

Today, the word is used to translate the English expression "homeland security

Homeland security

Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...

" used by the US federal government

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

 after the September 11, 2001 attacks

September 11, 2001 attacks

The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

.

The meaning of Heimatschutz in Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

is different. It's best translated as Swiss Heritage, a society dedicated to the advancement of Switzerland’s architectural heritage. Its focus is on the preservation of important landmarks, the development of the structural environment, and the promotion of good architectural design.http://www.heimatschutz.ch