Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice Pre-WWII Weimar Republic Era German Fire Protection Police Officer's belt, from the area of Western Germany known as Westfalen (Westphalia). This had been a province of Prussia since 1815, and continued to exist through WWII. These would be worn with the standard fire officer's uniform of the time. The belt is fabricated from a thick leather with black patent exterior and raw leather interior which has the standard tab with two rows of seven holes to allow the pronged end clasp to adjust the length of the belt. Overall length is about 41-42 inches when let out all the way.

The round buckle is stamped antiqued bronze, and attaches to the right end of the belt, as is standard. The front shows the coat of arms of Westphalia, the "Hanoverian Horse" on a vertically ribbed shield, which is on a raised pebbled central area surrounded by a wide laurel leaf wreath. The back of the buckle has a clip for attaching to the end clasp, while the other side has a double box loop with the length adjustment prong.

Condition is quite good, with lots of the original antiqued finish present on the buckle and clasp, with some bronze showing through on the wear points. The belt is in great shape, with minimal wear, and is currently somewhat stiff. The belt does not appear to have seen much use at all, though it does have some cracking in the finish due to age. The end near the buckle has some stamped markings, but they look to be stamped over other markings, so we cannot make out a clear size.

A very nice and interesting German Fire Police Officer's belt, ready to display!

More on the Fire Protection Police:

On June 17TH 1936, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was appointed to the newly created position of Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern (Chief of the German Police in the National Ministry of the Interior), effectively giving him full control of all police agencies within Germany including the Feuerschutzpolizei, (Fire Protection Police). As a result of this appointment and the restructuring of all the separate German state police into a single national police force new regulations were instituted on June 25TH 1936 to bring about uniformity in dress for all police through-out the country. The Police were divided into eight assorted branches of service with each branch being assigned a specific identifying, Truppenfarbe, (branch of service color), with the Feuerschutzpolizei being allocated carmine truppenfarbe. The Feuerschutzpolizei were further distinguished from the other police branches of service with blue uniforms and headgear instead of the typical police green uniforms.