226. German State Railways: Central Office Secretary, 1937, Open neck Service Jacket.
227. German State Railways: Communications Official, 1944, Greatcoat.
228. German State Railways: Senior Locomotive Driver, 1941, Walking-out Uniform.
229. German State Railways: Survey Inspector, 1942, Closed neck Service Tunic.
230. German State Railways: Female Auxiliary Worker, 1944, Female Service Uniform.
231. German State Railways: Railway Assistant, 1943, Service Tunic.
The Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German State Railways, was a nationally-owned undertaking which had a considerable measure of financial, administrative and operating autonomy. It was a public service operated on a self-supporting financial basis as laid dowll by the Reichsbahn Law of1939. In 1938 the railway systenl covered about 35,000 route miles of standard gauge track of which 1,500 miles were electrically operated. Well equipped with locomotives and rolling stock, its construction standards were high and its operating efficiency very good. The Reichsbahn was a first class railway system comparable in every way with the major systems of Great Britain and the United States. Since 1937 the Reichsbahn expanded with the conquests of the Reich. The inclusion of the railway systems of Czechoslovakia, Austria, Poland, Alsace-Lorraine. Memel and Luxembourg brought the total route length directly controlled and operated from 35,000 miles to about 50,000 miles. The number of locomotives and amount of rolling stock increased proportionately. The total number of employees rose from 800,000 in 1937 to 1,400,000 in 1942 with the ex-pansion of the Reichsbahn at its height. The uniforms worn by members of the German State Railways during the period 1933 to 1945 were in many respects similar in general appearance to those worn during the Weimar period. The same basic colours of dark blue jackets, tunics and greatcoats worn together with black trousers were continued under the new regime, as was the use ofblack collar patches and red and yellow as the colours for piping and iIlsignia. Railway uniforms of the Third Reich period were subjected to a number of new introductions and changes in existing styles but it was the insignia displayed on these uniforms that tended to be changed with far more frequency and for a variety of reasons. Being a non-military uniformed organisation the conlmand structure of the German State Railways did not have a 'rank system' based on military lines. Instead it war divided into four Inain 'Worker Classifcations' and sub-divided into twenty-three pay groups containillg eighty-three different grades of Officials from the lowest Administratioll Aspirant up to the Director of the State Railways. Generally speaking the visual identification of the gradings to these twenty-three pay groups was achieved by the use of individual shoulder straps which indicated the wearers' pay group level whilst the use of collar patches and cap cords were used to distinguish the main Worker Classification. Individual trade or specialist skills were marked by the use of specialist cloth badges also worn on the uniforms. More precisely, however, the whole system of shoulder straps, collar patches and to a lesser extent cap cords and cap insignia underwent two major changes which drastically altered the original system. Originally when first introduced in March 1936 only shoulder straps were used to indicate the wearers' pay group. The basic collar patch design was the same for all Reichsbahn personnel (No. 226). On 13th February 1941 this was changed when the universal collar patch system of a gilt coloured metal winged wheel mounted on to a red piped, black patch was changed. A whole new system of collar patches was introduced designed to indicate the four main levels of worker classifications. Two patterns of these new collar patches were produced for each of the four levels, one pattern for use on the closed neck tunics (Nos. 227, 229, 231) and the other type for use on tunics and jackets worn open at the neck (No. 228). The existing shoulder straps continued in use as before but with slight modifications in design. A few months later during the summer of 1941 it was the turn of the shoulder strap system to be changed when they were done away with completely and a new innovation of 'Passant' shoulder insignia introduced (No. 227). These 'Passant' shoulder bars were very similar in principle but different in construction and colouring to the modern United States Army officers' shoulder ornaments (shoulder straps) as worn on the US Army Blue Uniform The second pattern collar patches remained to be used together with these 'Passants' (No. 227). However, true to most uniformed organisations, all these innovations became completely mixed and although dates were laid down by the Reichsbahn clothing authorities for the discontinuation and introduction of old and new insignia, and most probably because this action was meant to be staggered over a period of time by the various pay group levels, many items of obsolete uniforms and insignia continued in use long after their date of withdrawal and even up to the end of the war. Another important but short-lived item of insignia was also introduced in February 1941, namely a cuff-title (No. 228). This item (and there were a number of differing titles) was intended to be worn together with the eagle and swastika arm badge (No. 228) but these items were replaced within months by the more familiarly named arm badges (No. 231).

Tratto da German Militaria and Collectables