Gents,

 

Here is an example of the dark blue Railway Police (Bahnschutzpolizei) NCO uniform that was worn by German Railway Police operating within the boundaries of the Reich. This NCO uniform has the standard German Police style of tunic with an eight button front and the "Rock" cut style of four panel back. The piping color is grey and the winged railway wheel device is incorporated into the collar tabs and shoulder boards. Notice the distinctive Railway Police sleeve eagle in grey embroidery and the Bahnschutzpolizei (Bzp) identity disc, aka Erkennungsmarken or "Dog Tag", marked to the same Railway area as is indicated by the aluminum "2" device on the shoulder boards. The identity disc accompanied the uniform and is consistent with interior property markings in the tunic and trousers.

 

This uniform was worn with the dark blue Bahnschutzpolizei peaked cap with grey piping.

 

http://www.worldmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/313223-bahnschutzpolizei-peaked-cap/

This is one of the best NCO sets I've seen. Does the visor match up with it?

Paul,

 

The NCO visor on the link is proper for this blue uniform but the cap did not come with this uniform set. The Railway Police wore this dark blue uniform for quite a while from the time of the Weimar Republic until the end of the war. This makes them a little hard to date precisely except by the style of insignia worn. This tunic has an early, and rather funky, sleeve eagle that was later refined a bit. The later wartime Bzp. sleeve eagle is often mistaken for an early W-SS sleeve eagle but this is partly due to the fact that some tailors seemed to have used these Banschutzpolizei eagles for early W-SS uniforms because they are seen in wear in period photos. However, this is not a W-SS eagle any more than a Heer eagle worn on the sleeve of a W-SS tunic is.

 

 

What a great uniform group, nice to see it all together, thanks for posting, i enjoyed seeing it very much, Gerard

Interesting.

When Bahnschutzpolizei uniforms appear they are usually the lighter blue-gray wool style uniform.

Interesting.

When Bahnschutzpolizei uniforms appear they are usually the lighter blue-gray wool style uniform.

 

You are quite right Will. Here is an example of the lighter blue-grey Railway Police (Bahnschutzpolizei) Enlisted uniform that was worn by German Railway Police operating outside the boundaries of the Reich in the occupied territories. This Enlisted uniform is the standard German Police style of tunic with an eight button front and the "Rock" cut style of four panel back. The piping color is grey and the winged railway wheel device is incorporated into the collar tabs and shoulder boards. Notice the distinctive Railway Police sleeve eagle in grey embroidery. The uniform tunic is consistent with interior property markings found in both the tunic and the matching grey piped trousers.

This uniform was worn with the light blue-grey Bahnschutzpolizei peaked cap with grey piping or the Schiffchen side cap.

That is a sharp set. What did these men do? Literally railway security?

That is a sharp set. What did these men do? Literally railway security?

 

Like the Railway Police in the United States, these men had police authority wherever the tracks ran. Their jurisdictional mandate extended to railway equipment, rolling stock, and buildings and bridges. In the days just after the founding of the Weimar Republic they acted as a mobile strike force for the regular police. They would arrive as heavily armed riot police in armored trains to backup the regular police, when called, during the heaviest street fighting with Communist and Spartikus uprisings. This is where they earned their stripes employing special weapons and tactics in the form of armored vehicles, light artillery, and heavy machine guns. The street cops loved them and this later gave them broad powers and gravitas in the police state of the National Socialists.

This is some great information. I had no idea they were so heavily utilized. I bet they played a large role in the anti partisan front too.

I seem to recall that a few years ago Tom joohnson was offering a reward for any photograph of a Bahnschutz officer wearing the Bahnshutz dagger.

Does anyone know if such a photograph has ever been found?

It's a very uncommon dagger, so its not surprising that a photo of the dagger in wear would be scarce.

Not an easy tunic to find, especially in that condition, beauty. Pony.

Wow, very nice.