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 2 feature an orange underlay or piping for personnel deployed within the German borders and a dark green underlay or piping for personnel deployed outside of the German borders. The rank pips are in the shape of four-sided stars. The shoulder boards are as follows:
Oberführer shoulder boards feature two silver-coloured double cords braided to form five bends and a button loop, as well as one rank pip.
Bezirksführer shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they don’t feature any rank pips.
Abschnittsführer shoulder boards feature two silver-coloured parallel double-laid double cords, as well as two rank pips, one over the other.
Abteilungshauptführer shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they feature only one rank pip.
Abteilungsführer shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they don’t feature any rank pips.
Zughauptführer shoulder boards feature two parallel double-laid double cords, the outer one in silver and the inner one in orange, as well as one rank pip.
Zugführer shoulder boards are the same as the ones for the rank above, except that they don’t feature any rank pips.
All following shoulder boards are field-grey with orange piping and a slightly pointed tip.
Gruppenhauptführer shoulder boards feature two rank pips.
Gruppenführer shoulder boards feature one rank pip and one silver-coloured bar at the bottom.
Truppführer shoulder boards feature one rank pip.
Rottenführer shoulder boards feature one silver-coloured bar at the bottom.
Postschutzmann shoulder boards don’t feature any pips or bars.