Original German WWII DRB Bahnschutzpolizei Railway Police Pebbled Aluminum Belt Buckle by Richard Sieper & Söhne Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very good condition rare WWII German DRB Bahnschutzpolizei (Railway Protection Police) Pebbled Aluminum Belt Buckle (Koppelschloß). The obverse features a circular “rope” border, with DEUTSCHE REICHSBAHN (German National Railway) embossed on the top and bottom of the border. In the middle is the “Winged Wheel” logo of the Bahnschutzpolizei over a “mobile” Swas. Nice injection molded aluminum construction box buckle with a pebbled background. The buckle is in very good condition, with most of the original finish present, showing just a bit of staining from storage. We checked it with a magnet, and it is entirely non-magnetic.

The the reverse of the buckle is nicely stamped with maker mark R. S. & S., for R. Sieper & Söhne of Lüdenscheid, Germany, a city with a very large garment accessories industry.

Overall condition is very good with an exception eye appeal. Quite rare and ready to display!

The Bahnschutzepolizei, (Railway Protection Police), were established by the Deutsches Reichsbahn (DRB or German National Railway) in 1933 with voluntary personnel drawn from the SA and SS, to protect the railway network. Originally personnel wore navy blue uniforms and headgear, as the DR personnel but this was eventually changed to blue/grey uniforms and headgear.

The Deutsche Reichsbahn, also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was 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 Deutsche Reichsbahn has been described as “the largest enterprise in the capitalist world in the years between 1920 and 1932”, nevertheless its importance “arises primarily from the fact that the Reichsbahn was at the center of events in a period of great turmoil in German history”.

Deutsche Reichsbahn (1937 to 1945)
With the Act for the New Regulation of the Conditions of the Reichsbank and the Deutsche Reichsbahn (Gesetz zur Neuregelung der Verhältnisse der Reichsbank und der Deutschen Reichsbahn) of 10 February 1937 the Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft was placed under Reich sovereignty and was given the name Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB).

World War II and military use
The Reichsbahn had an important logistic role in supporting the rapid movement of the troops of the Wehrmacht for most of the important Pre-WWII and early war campaigns.

In all the occupied lands the Reichsbahn endeavored to incorporate the captured railways (rolling stock and infrastructure) into their system. Even towards the end of the war the Reichsbahn continued to move military formations. For example, in the last great offensive, the Battle of the Bulge (from 16 December 1944), tank formations were transported from Hungary to the Ardennes.

The DRB was instrumental to the entire functioning of the Third Reich, as the primary method for transportation of materiel and people. This unfortunately extended to uses for prisoners and Shoah victims as well.