Bundesgrenzschutz

Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS; English: Federal Border Guard) was the first federal police organization in Western Germany after World War II permitted by the Allied occupation authorities. In July 2005, the BGS was renamed Bundespolizei (Federal Police) to reflect its transition to a multi-faceted police agency. This was controversial due to the German constitution expressly granting law enforcement power to the states. The fact that the border guard function was so limited allowed its formation notwithstanding this restriction, however in the modern day it has become a fully fledged police force.

The BGS was established in 1951 after the Cold War had begun but travel between East and West Germany was not yet restricted by the Berlin Wall (1961). When German nationals could move freely from the DDR to the BRD in Berlin, people attempting to cross illegally elsewhere were likely to be either commercial smugglers or espionage agents carrying contraband (e.g., radio transmitters.). Occupation authorities judged this could be better policed by a permanent force of Germans who knew the border woods and mountains intimately (rather than British or US troops who rotated out of Germany after a year or two) and at German rather than Allied expense. The BGS was organized along paramilitary lines in battalions, companies, and platoons, and was armed as light infantry. It remained a police force controlled by the Ministry of Interior rather than by the Ministry of Defense.

On 3 October 1953 The Bundespasskontrolldienst (passport control service) was transferred to the BGS and was now deployed on the entire German border.

The BGS was initially a paramilitary force of 10,000 which was responsible for policing a zone 30 kilometres (19 mi) deep along the border. It eventually became the basis for the present national semi-militarised police force. Its numbers were later expanded to 20,000 men, a mixture of conscripts and volunteers equipped with armoured cars, anti-tank guns, helicopters, trucks and jeeps. Although it was not intended to be able to repel a full-scale invasion, the BGS was tasked with dealing with small-scale threats to the security of West Germany's borders, including the international borders as well as the inner German border. It had limited police powers within its zone of operations to enable it to deal with threats to the peace of the border. The BGS had a reputation for assertiveness which made it especially unpopular with the East Germans, who routinely criticised it as a reincarnation of Hitler's SS. It also sustained a long-running feud with the Bundeszollverwaltung over which agency should have the lead responsibility for the inner German border.

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