Reichsbahn Bahnschutz/Bahnpolizei Winged Wheel Cap Insignia (Cloth version)

CATEGORY: Version

SKU: 72.GOR.03.01.02.003.001

Estimated market value:

$200 USD

  • Reichsbahn Bahnschutz/Bahnpolizei Winged Wheel Cap Insignia (Cloth version) Obverse
  • Reichsbahn Bahnschutz/Bahnpolizei Winged Wheel Cap Insignia (Cloth version) Reverse

Estimated market value:

$200 USD

Attributes

  • Country
    Germany
  • Image Licensing
    The image of the Reichsbahn Bahnschutz/Bahnpolizei Winged Wheel Cap Insignia (Cloth version) is attributed to Helmut Weitze Militärische Antiquitäten KG.

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.

Bahnschutz and Bahnpolizei personnel, as well as their later amalgamation of Bahnschutzpolizei, wore a winged wheel cap insignia that was superimposed on an open oak leaf wreath. A cockade was placed in between the oak leaves and above the wheel. The insignia was made of metal for lower ranks and hand-embroidered for higher ranks. It was usually silver-coloured, except for the highest ranks which wore gold-coloured insignia.

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