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.

Collar tabs underwent a design change in July of 1935 with the introduction of new Reichsbahn uniforms. The new collar tabs feature a black cloth underlay with a cypher in the form of a wheel viewed from the side with a wing attached, and red piping on three sides.
Collar tabs for the tunic worn closed at the neck were in the form of parallelograms, while those for the open-neck tunic were regular rectangles.
Winged wheels initially measured 70mm for the closed-neck tunic and 58mm for the open-neck tunic. This was changed to 45mm for both in June of 1936, the collar tabs became smaller as well, and the piping was extended to all four sides.
Up until July of 1937 the winged wheel cyphers for the collar tabs could be made of metal or be embroidered. From then on, only metal cyphers were worn.