Original Item: Only One Available. This is a genuine WWII Reichsbahn military marked railwayman's carbide burner lantern, made by Heinrich Hillet of Bergzabern, Germany, as marked on the lantern.

Constructed of iron stampings this hand lantern has windows on 3 sides, with the two side windows having locking covers. Originally all three had glass panes in them, but the right side glass is currently missing. The carbide burner is still present, though we do not know if it is functional. There is oxidation on the plating, so the reflector is not as bright as it once was. It can be removed from the back of the lantern for inspection. The top piece is marked:

Laternenfabrik
HEINRICH GILLET
BERGZABERN

The burner is not marked at all that we can see. Carbide lamps, or acetylene gas lamps, are simple lamps that produce and burn acetylene (C2H2) which is created by the reaction of calcium carbide (CaC2) with water (H2O). The water was kept in this reservoir on the back, while the carbide is kept in the container at the bottom under the burner.

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 an over-the-top folding wood and wire handle. Original grey paint is still present on about 75% of the surface. Totally original and ready to display!

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)