History

During the Third Reich, an effort was made to unite all of Germany’s disparate provincial police forces and agencies into a single cohesive national unit. To attain this goal, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was named Chief of the German Police in the Ministry of the Interior in June 1936. That same month, Himmler implemented new standardized uniforms, headgear, and insignia. The uniforms worn prior to Himmler’s appointment were often navy blue, particularly in what had been Prussia. The new uniforms were green, in a shade that was then dubbed “Police green”.

The German Police were divided into two main units, the Ordnungspolizei (Orps or Regular Police) and the Sicherheitspolizei (Secret Police); the Ordnungspolizei were unofficially called the green police (Grüne Polizei) as a result of their uniform colour. The Sicherheitspolizei were made up of two main organizations, the Gestapo and the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Investigation Police). At the beginning of the Second World War, the Sicherheitspolizei were brought under the auspices of the Reich Main Security Office.

The leather belt strap was worn as part in conjunction with the Officer belt buckle and the NCO/EM belt buckle. The leather is black when worn as part of the service uniform for general police personnel. For Rural Police, administrative officials, and Water Protection Police the leather was left the natural brown colour for wear with the service uniform.

These belt straps may be have manufacturer and/or RZM marks stamped or inked on the leather. The RZM control mark features the initials RZM, generally within a circle that is linked at the ends of the “M.” The RZM number marks are stamped alongside the RZM control marks. The number mark identifies the type of object being stamped and the manufacturer. The mark begins with a letter associated with the object's branch, such as "M" for metal, “K” for clothing, or "D" for uniforms, and it is followed by a group number that identifies the type of object being stamped. For example, M1 for badges and insignia, and M4 for belt buckles. This section is followed by a slash “/” and a number that is associated with a specific manufacturer. For example, M4/1 is the RZM number mark for an RZM belt buckle produced by Ferdinand Hoffstätter, Bonn.