Bahnschutzpolizei (BSP) ''(Railway Protection Police)'' in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

was made up of full-time and part-time police officers who were employees of the ''

Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

'' (state railways). The ''Bahnschutzpolizei'' was tasked with railway safety and also with preventing espionage and sabotage of railway property. It was not subordinated to

Hauptamt Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...

, only the

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

Origins

The BSP was founded in 1939 after a merger of the

Bahnpolizei ''Bahnpolizei'' is the term in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland for the Railway police. Germany ''Bahnpolizei'' was the name of the former Railway police of West Germany and fell under the jurisdiction of the ''Deutsche ...

(Railway Police) and the ''Reichsbahnschutz'' (Railway Protection Force). The former railway police formed the permanent cadre, while the bulk of the organization consisted of the former railway protection men,

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

employees who alongside their day-time job served as a security force.

Organization

The BSP was a special police organization ''(Sonderpolizei)'' completely subordinated to the

. It was not dependent on

Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

most of the BSP personnel were mobilized and used as a permanent railway security force in the occupied Eastern Europe.Bahnschutz
2012-01-09 As a replacement within Germany, the ''SS-Bahnschutz'', a railway security force under the SS was founded in 1944.

Ranks

References

External links

German Railway-Police: Cloth Headgear, Uniforms, Insignia, Cuff Titles and Photos
Text in

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

.
Uniformen des Streifdienstes, Bahnschutz und der Bahnschutzpolizei in der Zeit von 1926 bis 1945
{{Ranks, uniforms and insignia of Nazi Germany Police units of Nazi Germany