History

The German Reichspost (national postal service) was founded as a result of the transition from empire to Weimar Republic after the First World War. During the time of the empire, several German states had had their own postal service, but during the time of the Weimar Republic, the postal service was transformed into a unified, national, government-run operation. As such, during the time of the Third Reich, the postal service conformed with the NSDAP ideology and was used to further it. The Reichspost incorporated the postal services of annexed territories (i.e. Austria, Sudetenland) as well as conquered territories (i.e. Poland).

The Postschutz (postal service protection) was a paramilitary organisation tasked with protecting postal buildings and property. It was established in March of 1933. During the war, postal protection personnel stationed outside of the German borders in occupied territories were referred to as Deutsche Dienstpost.

Just like the Reichspost, the Postschutz used orange piping and orange cloth underlay for their garments and insignia. Unlike the Reichspost, however, the Postschutz uniform colour was field-grey. This was changed to brown in 1941.
Members of the Deutsche Dienstpost used the same uniforms and insignia as the Postschutz, but with green piping and cloth underlay.

In March of 1942, the Postschutz came under control of the Allgemeine SS and shortly after under control of the Waffen-SS. It was henceforth known as SS-Postschutz.

Feldpost (field mail) is the term for all mail sent to and from soldiers, either private letters for individuals or orders sent from one unit or office to another. Feldpost was entirely controlled by the German Wehrmacht (armed forces) and not a part of the regular Reichspost.

Reichspost members did not wear shoulder boards, whereas members of the Postschutz did. There are two different sets of Postschutz shoulder boards. At the time of writing, no information was available as to which one was worn at what time, so they will be referred to as “Set 1” and “Set 2”. The reader should keep in mind that these are arbitrary terms that will be changed in the future when more information will become available.

The shoulder boards of Set 1 feature an orange underlay for personnel deployed within the German borders and a dark green underlay for personnel deployed outside of the German borders. They are as follows:
Oberführer shoulder boards feature one silver-coloured parallel double-laid triple cord with orange chevrons, as well as two sets of braids of silver-coloured cords with an orange centre, one near the top and one near the bottom.
Bezirksführer shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they feature only one braid in the centre.
Abschnittsführer shoulder boards feature one silver-coloured parallel double-laid double cord with orange chevrons, as well as two sets of braids of silver-coloured cords with an orange centre, one near the top and one near the bottom.
Abteilungshauptführer shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they feature only one braid in the centre.
Abteilungsführer shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they don’t feature any additional braids.
Zughauptführer shoulder boards feature one silver-coloured parallel double-laid triple cord with an orange centre, as well as a centre braid of silver-coloured cords with an orange centre.
Zugführer shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they don’t feature any additional braids.
Gruppenhauptführer shoulder boards feature one silver-coloured parallel double-laid double cord, as well as two sets of braids of silver-coloured cords with an orange centre, one near the top and one near the bottom.
Gruppenführer shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they feature only one braid in the centre.
Truppführer shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they don’t feature any additional braids, but a silver-coloured bar at the bottom.
Rottenführer shoulder boards are identical to the ones worn by the rank above.
Postschutzmann shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they don’t feature a silver-coloured bar.