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The ''Transportpolizei'' (
Transportpolizei Lexicon
Die Transportpolizei (“Trapo“)
Defunct law enforcement agencies of East Germany Law enforcement in East Germany Paramilitary organisations based in Germany Transit police departments 1992 disestablishments in Germany {{Law-enforcement-agency-stub
The ''Transportpolizei'' (German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
for "Transport Police") was the transit police
Transit police (also known as transport police, railway police, railroad police and several other terms) are specialized police agencies employed either by a common carrier (a transit district, railway, railroad, bus line, or any other mass tran ...
of the German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
(East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
), whose officers were commonly nicknamed TraPos. It was part of the ''Volkspolizei
The ''Deutsche Volkspolizei'' (DVP, German for "German People's Police"), commonly known as the ''Volkspolizei'' or VoPo, was the national police force of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1945 to 1990. The Volkspolizei was a h ...
'' and dealt with all modes of transit but primarily with trains and railroads. It consisted of approximately 8,500 men, that were organized from a national level and at district level with each Deutsche Reichsbahn
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 regiona ...
district; Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, Cottbus
Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exten ...
, Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
, Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
, Greifswald
Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostoc ...
, Halle, Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
and Schwerin
Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...
. They wore dark-blue uniforms (that were colloquially called “blueberries”) instead of the standard green ''Volkspolizei'' uniform. They were organized into sixteen companies and equipped with small arms and RPG-7
The RPG-7 (russian: link=no, РПГ-7, Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт, Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot) is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket-propelled grenade launcher. ...
shoulder-fired antitank grenade launchers. The ''Transportpolizei'' supervised all larger train stations and controlled the travellers, particularly at the border with West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, and directed traffic. Before the building of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
, the ''Transportpolizei'' controlled the S-Bahn
The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...
in West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
(as the Deutsche Reichsbahn controlled the S-Bahn in both East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
). In the 'interzone courses' (later called 'transit courses') there was always an escort party of the ''Transportpolizei'' present. The service training school of the ''Transportpolizei'' was in Halle.
From January 1953 until February 1957 the ''Transportpolizei'' was part of the Ministry for State Security, in turn part of the Office of the Secretary of State. Starting from March 1957 it was transferred to the ''Volkspolizei'', whose supervising inspector was Otto Auerswald.
After German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
in 1990 the ''Transportpolizei'' was dissolved, with some 1200 of its personnel transferring to the (West) German ''Bahnpolizei ''Bahnpolizei'' is the term in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland for the Railway police.
Germany
''Bahnpolizei'' was the name of the former Railway police of West Germany and fell under the jurisdiction of the ''Deutsche ...
''. On April 1, 1992 the ''Bahnpolizei'' was taken over by the German Federal Border Guard (now called the German Federal Police
The Federal Police (''Bundespolizei'' or BPOL) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the German Federal Government, being subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (''Bundesministerium ...
).
See also
* Eastern Bloc politicsNotes
* Wolfgang Mittmann (1998); Die Transportpolizei (1945–1990), Berlín: Links, Forschungen zur DDR-Gesellschaft.External links
Transportpolizei Lexicon
Die Transportpolizei (“Trapo“)
Defunct law enforcement agencies of East Germany Law enforcement in East Germany Paramilitary organisations based in Germany Transit police departments 1992 disestablishments in Germany {{Law-enforcement-agency-stub