Bahnschutzpolizei

Bahnschutzpolizei in Nazi Germany was made up of full-time and part-time police officers who were employees of the Reichsbahn. The Bahnschutzpolizei was tasked with railway safety and also with preventing espionage and sabotage of railway property. It was not subordinated to Hauptamt Ordnungspolizei, only the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

Origins

The BSP was founded in 1939 after a merger of the Bahnpolizei and the Reichsbahnschutz. The former railway police formed the permanent cadre, while the bulk of the organization consisted of the former railway protection men, railway employees who alongside their day-time job served as a security force.

Organization

The BSP was a special police organization completely subordinated to the Deutsche Reichsbahn. It was not dependent on Ordnungspolizei. During World War II most of the BSP personnel were mobilized and used as a permanent railway security force in the occupied Eastern Europe. As a replacement within Germany, the SS-Bahnschutz, a railway security force under the SS was founded in 1944.

Ranks