Original German WWII Deutsche Reichsbahn Marked Railwayman Lantern Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a genuine WWII Reichsbahn military marked railwayman’s carbide burner lantern found in a French flea market.

Constructed of iron stampings this hand lantern has three glass panes, clear sides and center frosted. The light source or burner is absent but it was full of candle wax when we got it before cleaning. The rear of the lantern is very clearly embossed with a Deutsche Reichsbahn DR with eagle and swas. The lantern has a steel carry handle to the rear and a over-the-top folding wood and wire handle. Original grey paint still present on about 50% of the surface. Totally original and untouched.

The Deutsche Reichsbahn or the German National Railway, also referred to as German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the name of the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regional railways of the individual states of the German Empire. The company was founded in 1920 as the Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen (Reich Railways), and changed its name to German National Railway (Deutsche Reichsbahn) on 27 June 1921.

DR was founded when the Weimar Republic, formally known as Deutsches Reich (German Reich, hence the usage of the Reich in the name of the railway), took national control of the German railways, which had previously been run by the German states. In 1924 it was reorganised under the aegis of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG), a nominally private railway company, which was 100% owned by the German state. In 1937 the railway was reorganised again as a state authority and given the name Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB). After the Anschluss in 1938 the DR also took over the Bundesbahn Österreich (BBÖ, Federal Railway of Austria)