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

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

was made up of full-time and part-time police officers who were employees of the '' Reichsbahn'' (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, 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 Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

Origins

The BSP was founded in 1939 after a merger of the Bahnpolizei (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 using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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'' (''Orpo'', , meaning "Order Police") were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly of power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favour of t ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

.
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 Railroad police agencies