This is a personal website which is apolitically and deals with the history of the German Zollgrenzschutz (customs border protection) from 1919 to 1950.
The customs border protection (Grenzaufsichtsdienst) was created in 1919 by merging the customs administrations of the former imperial federal states and was part of the Reich Finance Administration (Reichsfinanzverwaltung / RFV). The main task was to monitor the borders and to prevent smuggling as well as the illegal crossing of borders. From the mid-30s onwards, he took on a role as reinforced border inspection service (Verstärkter Grenzaufsichtsdienst / VGAD) and border guards of the Wehrmacht (Grenzwacht) in the military border security in almost all conflicts up to the outbreak of war. The politicization of the public administration, which began at the same time, penetrated the customs at the end at all levels, the commitment to the Nazi state was taken for granted and was otherwise actively demanded. In March 1937, the name was changed to Customs Border Security (Zollgrenzschutz) and the organizational structure was strengthened through the creation of an Inspector General (Generalinspekteur). During the Second World War it was used in most of the occupied territories, including military action against the Allied Forces and partisans. As a result of the Stauffenberg assassination, the customs border guard was integrated into the SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt, shortly before the end of the war (May 2nd, 1945) the return to the RFV took place. After that, it partly continued to exist in the western occupation zones under the leadership of the Allies, and at the beginning of the 1950s it became part of the Federal Finance Administration (Bundesfinanzverwaltung).
That website now exists for more than 20 years, which would not have been possible without the support of numerous individuals, museums and archives from Germany and abroad. Thank you very much for that!
If you can help with information, documents, pictures, etc., I look forward to your message to . In the case of questions and remarks, please always feel free to contact me in English.
That website is in German, with the following link you are transferred to an English version in Google Translator.
Please note that all contents of this website (especially texts and images) are protected by copyright. The use in other media, including websites, boards, etc., requires the prior consent of the website owner or copyright holder.
The website is currently being revised in terms of content and structure, here and there with temporary problems with the image display and linking.