History

The Deutsche Reichsbahn (German National Railway) was created after the First World War in 1920 by combining the formerly independent state railways of the abolished German Empire into a national organisation. Under NSDAP rule, the German state railway system was reorganised in the 1930s to better meet the needs of the economy and to prepare for war, eventually supplying the front lines with soldiers and supplies. The Reichsbahn also had an infamous role to play in the Holocaust, transporting Jews and other “undesirables” to concentration and extermination camps.

The Bahnschutzpolizei (railway protection police) was founded in 1939 as a merger of the Bahnpolizei (railway police) and the Reichsbahnschutz (railway protection force), the latter being regular railway employees that, beyond their normal functions, additionally served as railway security personnel.
The Bahnschutzpolizei as a railway sub-organisation was made up of policemen that were employed by the Reichsbahn rather than the German police force. Their task was to ensure railway safety as well as preventing railway-related espionage and sabotage. During the war, most members of the Bahnschutzpolizei served in the occupied Eastern European territories.

Pre-Third Reich Bahnpolizei collar tabs were taken over after the NSDAP came to power in 1933. These collar tabs were black with red piping and featured one silver-coloured metal button per collar tab.

New insignia were introduced around 1936/1937 to distinguish between Bahnpolizei/Streifdienst (patrol service) and Bahnschutz. Bahnpolizei collar tabs were black with alternating black and silver piping and a silver-coloured six-sided pip featuring a winged wheel and a small eagle emblem above it for ranks Streifdienstleiter to Streifabteilungsführer. The lower ranks of Oberstreifenführer to Streifer wore black collar tabs with red piping and the same six-sided pip.