Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice, genuine steel construction M34 "Square Dip" Third Reich helmet, outfitted for German WW2 DRB Bahnschutzpolizei (Railway protection police) issue. These are pretty much identical to the Schutzpolizei issue except for the left side decal. This helmet still retains it's original "Double Decals", with the NSDAP swas shield on the right, and on the left instead of a Civic Police decal, it has a Bahnschutzpolizei decal, a black shield with a silver border, and the "Winged Wheel" logo of the DRB in the middle. Comes with a complete leather liner and top pad, however the chin strap is partly torn through by one of the buckles, and is in delicate condition. All four liner attachment pins are present, along with the cork spacer washers on the inside of the helmet. The helmet definitely looks to have seen a good amount of use during the war.

The exterior of this German helmet retains much of the original semigloss black paint on the exterior, with overall light wear resulting in missing paint chips and oxidation of the steel. Both decals are well retained, however they have yellowed quite a bit, giving them a fantastic aged look, and also have some areas chipped away. The interior has retained the black paint very well, showing some scattered oxidation, especially under the front brim, where there has been a good amount of chipping.

The leather liner is in good condition, with light wear and some deterioration along the front edge, but no tearing or other major damage. The top tie is however missing, and the liner is now a bit shrunken. All five of the tabs for attachment of a leather neck shield are still present. The top pad has the name Franke written on it. As mentioned previously, the chinstrap is partly torn through next to one of the buckles, and is in delicate condition.

The inner skirt over the left ear actually has a fairly large maker mark of a "Stag", surrounded by the following:

Vorschriftsmäßig
(Stag Logo)
gem. Anordnung
d.MdJ.v.3.5.1934

This basically translates to "According to the regulations of May 3, 1934", when the patterns were officially made for the M34 Civic helmets. The marking is definitely a bit faint, but still legible with a magnifier.

A very nice example of a very rare Railroad Police helmet that comes ready to display!

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.