Flag of the Ordnungspolizei The Ordnungspolizei was the name for the regular German police force that existed in Nazi Germany between the years of 1936 and 1945.
History Translated as the "Order Police", the Ordnungspolizei were formed by an act of the German Interior Ministry in the summer of 1936. The act absorbed the regular German police forces in the SS, incorporating all local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.
The police were divided into the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) or Regular Police), the Sicherheitspolizei (Sipo or Security Police), and the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo or Criminal Police. The Orpo assumed duties of regular law enforcement while the Sipo consisted of the Gestapo and Sicherheitsdienst. The Kriminalpolizei was a core of professional detectives who were tasked with investigating violent and serious crimes. The Kripo existed on a fine line between full SS and regular police, until 1942 when the Kripo, SD, and Gestapo were all combined under the authority of the RSHA.
Organization The Orpo was commanded SS-Oberstgruppenführer Kurt Daluege, who answered to Heinrich Himmler, who was the Reichsführer-SS. As part of his duties as commander of the SS, which now controlled the Orpo, Himmler was also named as Chef dem Deutschen Polizei. By 1941, the Orpo had been divided into the following offices, comprising every aspect of German law enforcement.
Hauptamt Ordungspolizei The central command office of the entire Order Police, considered a full SS Headquarters Command
Schutzpolizei The municipal police force of Germany, tasked with maintaining order in German cities and larger towns. The Schutzpolizei was further divided into the Schutzpolizei des Reiches (cities and large towns), Schutzpolizei der Gemeinden (smaller towns), and the Kasernierte Polizei (police reserve and riot surpression).
Gendarmerie The Rural Police were tasked with frontier law enforcement to include small communities, landward districts, and mountainous terrian. The Gendarmerie were mainly employed to combat poaching and also as alpine troops for homeland defense.
Verwaltungspolizei The administrative branch of the Orpo was the overall command authoirty for all Orpo police stations. The Verwaltungspolizei also was the central office for record keeping and was the command authority for civilian law enforcement groups which included the Gesundheitspolizei (Health Police), Gewerbepolizei (Factory and Shop Police), and the Baupolizei (Building Police).
Verkehrspolizei The Verkehrspolizei was the traffic enforcement and road safety administration of Germany. the organization patroled Germany's highways and responded to major accidents. The Verkehrspolizei was also the primary escort service for high Nazi leaders who traveled extensive distances by automobile.
Wasserschutzpolizei The water protection service was the Coast Guard of the Third Reich. Tasked with safety on all of Germany's rivers, harbors, and inland waterways, the group also had authority over the SS-Hafenasicherungstruppen which were Allgemeine-SS units assigned as port security personnel.
Bahnschutzpolizei The Railway Protection Service comprised part time police members who were also employees of the Reichsbahn (State Railway). The Bahnschutzpolizei was tasked with railway safety and also preventing espionage and sabotage of railway property.
Postschutz The postal protection service comprised roughly 4500 members and was tasked with security at Germany's post offices and also ensuring the safety of other communications mediums such as telephone lines and telegraphs.
Feuerschutzpolizei In 1938, all of Germany's local fire brigades were absorbed into the Ordnungspolizei. the Fire Protection Police thus consisted of all of Germany's local fire departments under a national command structure. The Feuerschutzpolizei also was the authority of the Freiwillige Feuerwehren which were the volunteer fire brigades comprised of civilians. at the height of the Second World War, in response to heavy bombing of Germany's cities, the combined Feuerschutzpolizei und Freiwillige Feuerwehren numbered near to two million in membership.
Luftschutzpolizei The Luftschutzpolizei was the civil prection service in charge civl defence and air raid rescue. The Luftschutzpolizei was subdivided into the Reichsluftsbund (national civil defense), the Luftschutz Warndienst (air raid alert service), and the Sichheits und Hilfsdienst which was the emergency rescue service responding to victims of bombing.
Technische Nothilfe Known as the TeNo, the Technically Emergency Corps was a police formation in charge of breaking strike actions and surpressing civil uprisings. By 1943, the TeNo comprised over one hundred thousand members.
Funkschutz The so called "Radio Guard" comprised SS and Orpo security personnel assigned to protect German radio stations from attack or sabotage. The Funkschutz was the also the primary investigating service for illegal reception of foreign radio broadcasts.
Werkschutzpolizei The Factory Protection Police were the night watchmen of the Third Reich. Such personnel were civilians who answered to a central Orpo office and typically were issued paramiltiary uniforms, mostly surplus black Allgemeine-SS jackets with Orpo insignia.
Police Battalions Between 1939 and 1945, the Ordnungspolizei also maintained separate miltiary formations, independent of the main police offices within Germany. The first such formations were the Police Battalions, established for law enforcement in occupied territories and anti-partisan duties. The Police Battalions were under the authority of local SS and Police Leaders and were used, more often than not, as security forces patroling the Jewish Ghettos of Poland. The Police Battalions were also the primary pool from which the Einsatzgruppen drew personnel in accordance with manpower needs.
It should be noted that the regular military police of the Wehrmacht was unconnected to the Ordungspolizei.
Waffen-SS Police Division The primary military arm of the Ordungsnungspolizie was the 4th Panzergrenadier Division of the Waffen-SS known as the Polizei Division. Mainly used as a rear guard and reserve formation, the Polizei Division was historically known as being under-trained and lacking in skilled combat tactics. The division consisted of four police regiments comprised of Orpo personnel and was typically used to rotate police members into a military situation, so as not to lose police personnel to the general draft of the Wehrmacht or to the full SS divisions of the regular Waffen-SS.
Orpo and SS Unity The Ordnungspolizei was considered a full branch of the SS but maintained a separate system of insignia and Orpo ranks. It was also possible for SS members to hold dual status in both the Orpo and the SS, and SS-Generals were referred to simultaneously by both rank titles. For instance, an Obergruppenführer in the SS, who was also a Police General, would be referred to as Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei. In addition, all Orpo Police Generals gained equivalent Waffen-SS rank in 1944, so that they would be treated as military officers, instead of police officials, if captured by the Allies. Thus an Orpo general, who was also a member of the SS, would be referred to as SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS.
Heinrich Himmler's ultimate desire for the Ordnungspolizei was to eventually phase the organization out of existence and replace the regular police forces of Germany with a combined racial-state protection corps of pure SS units. In Himmler's dream of the future, local law enforcement would be undertaken by the Allgemeine-SS with the Waffen-SS providing homeland security and political police functions. Historic analysis of the Third Riech has revealed that senior Orpo personnel knew of Himmler's plans and were very much against the extinction of the Ordnungspolizei in favor of an SS state police service.
Orpo legacy At the close of the Second World War, the Orpo ceased to exist but many of tis personnel continued with business as usual, performing police services to the Allied occupation forces. The traditions of the Orpo continued in East Germany which maintained a state police force designed closely after Orpo and SS structures. In West Germany, the police were decentralized and law enforcement functions given back to local authorities. The exception was the Landespolizei which continues to this day as the Federal Police of Germany. Many Landespolizei regulations, procedures, and even some uniforms and insignia, can be traced back to Orpo origins.
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