English: Colour plate from The German Police, a publication on the Police forces of Nazi Germany, issued by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces (SHAEF) and printed in London in April 1945. The book covers the regular, uniformed Order Police (Ordnungspolizei, OrPo), the Security Police (Sicherheitspolizei, SiPo) and the Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst, SD) which were all included in the general term "Police" 1936–1945. It also contains nine plates on OrPo uniforms with illustrations copied from German Police uniform panels 1939.

• Plate VIII Headgear
  • White cap (officer's) for the Schupo des Reiches
    • Schirmmütze, peaked cap/visor cap, with national cockade (Kokarde) and police eagle (Polizeiadler) insignia insignia as national emblem, saddle shape crown
    • The cockade (Kokarde), in black, white and red, representing the traditional national colours of Germany, was worn on every German Police cap. When worn on the shako as a Tschako-Nationale, it was oblong (oval) in shape and framed with a silver cord. On the peaked cap (Schirmmütze) and on the side cap (Hausmütze) it was round and without a corded edge.
    • "World War II German Police Units" by Gordon Williamson: Undress headgear was a peaked (visored) service cap – Schirmmütze – with a grey-green crown and a dark brown band. The crown seam and both edges of the band were piped in the appropriate Truppenfarbe. The cap had a black lacquered peak; enlisted men and NCOs wore a black leather chin strap and officers silver chin cords. Insignia were a silver-coloured metal Police national emblem on the band, below a circular metal cockade in the national colours on the front of the crown. For general officers the cap piping, chin cords and national emblem were in gilt rather than silver finish.
    • The basic design of the Hoheitsabzeichen (National emblem) of Nazi Germany was a spread imperial eagle (Reichsadler) over a swastika (Hakenkreuz). The police version was a swastika eagle enclosed in a wreath of oak leaves. This wreathed Polizeiadler ("police eagle") was worn as a cap badge and on the left sleeve by all uniformed police.
  • Cap for Gendarmerie, with Officers's chin-strap cords
  • Cap for Gendarmerie with leather chin-strap
  • Cap for Wasserschutzpolizei with Officers's chin-strap cords
    • Wasserschutzpolizei, "river and water protection police"
  • Cap for Wasserschutzpolizei with leather chin-strap
  • Forage cap for senior NCO's of the Schupo der Gemeinden
    • Forage cap/field cap/side cap (Hausmütze, Feldmütze, Schiffchen) with "police eagle" cloth badge
    • See Schutzpolizei Feldmütze M1942 at Imperial War Museum
    • "World War II German Police Units" by Gordon Williamson: A field cap – Feldmütze or sidecap – in grey-green wool normally featured bright police-green piping along both top crests and down the front of the crown (moved in 1942 to the edge of the flap). It bore a machine-woven version of the Police national emblem in silver-grey on black, but no national cockade. Officers’ caps – alone – resembled the M1938 type for Army officers, with silver braid piping to the crown and front of the flap. Insignia for officers were machine-woven in silver thread on black.
  • Steel helmet (right side)
    • Stahlhelm with national flag swastika decal
    • "World War II German Police Units" by Gordon Williamson: The full range of steel helmet styles as used in the Wehrmacht and paramilitary units were also issued to the Police. Police helmets featured a shield decal on the left-hand side with a silver Police national emblem on black, and on the right a red shield with white disc and black swastika. Police motorcyclists were issued a special leather crash-helmet, with a reinforced padded band around the lower edge of the crown and a leather visor; a large metal Police national emblem was worn on the front.
  • Hoheitsabzeichen (left side)
  • Polizei Adlerschild für Stahlhelme, Abziehbild für die Polizeistahlhelm
    • See Helmet Decal Guide at www.germandaggers.com
  • Crash helmet for motor cyclists (brown for Gendarmerie, otherwise black)
    • Kradhelm, Polizei Motorrad Sturzhelm , Fiberglashelm mit umlaufendem Ringwulst, vorn aufgelegter Polizeiadler in Aluminium

Police in Nazi Germany

In 1936 the separate German state police forces were restructured into a single national police force divided in two main departments: the Ordnungspolizei (Order Police or Uniformed Police, OrPo) and Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police, SiPo).

OrPo consisted of Schutzpolizei (protection police, SchuPo), Gemeindepolizei (municipal protection police) and Gendarmerie, the state rural police and military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The Schutzpolizei included Einzeldienst (Patrol branch ), Kasernierte Polizei (Barracked police), Verkehrspolizei (Traffic police), Wasserschutzpolizei (Water police), Polizei-Reiterstaffeln (mounted troops), Polizei-Nachrichtenstaffeln (police signal squads), etc. SiPo included Gestapo, Nazi Political Police, and Kriminalpolizei, Kripo.

Feldgendarmerie was military field police units of the Wehrmacht.

Ordnungspolizei uniforms

The Ordnungspolizei (OrPo) was also called Grüne Polizei ("green police"); The standard Waffenrock (service tunic) was grey-green with contrasting dark brown collar and cuff facings and had two pleated patch breast pockets and two unpleated skirt pockets.

In addition to collar and shoulder rank insignia, all OrPo wore the Polizeiadler ("police eagle"), i.e. a wreathed national eagle with swastika (Reichsadler mit Hakenkreuz), as a cap badge and an arm badge on the upper left sleeve.

The collar patches and shoulderboards on OrPo tunics were backed, and the sleeve eagle (below the rank of Leutnant) was embroidered (except for a black swastika), in the Truppenfarbe, a colour code indicating the branch. Tunics and caps also had piping (Paspelierung) in these branch colours:

• Schutzpolizei (protection police) – bright ‘police-green’
• Schutzpolizei der Gemeinden (municipal protection police) – wine-red
• Gendarmerie (rural) – orange
• Feuerschutzpolizei (fire brigades) – carmine-red
• Wasserschutzpolizei (Waterways protection police) – bright yellow (gold)
• Verwaltungspolizei (administrative police) – light grey
• Medical and veterinary personnel wore cornflower-blue and black respectively.

From 1942, dual Police and SS ranks were adopted by Police generals, who from then on would wear SS pattern rank insignia, albeit in Police colours.

SiPo personell within Germany wore civilian clothing.

Cropped and brightened image from scanned book.

No known copyright.