Holster Mystery!
 

Gentleman, I just bought a stunning dark chocolate or cordovan Luger holster! It is finely crafted with tighter stitching than you normally see on a Military which makes me think of a commercial.

It’s only marking is on the underside of the top in the suede right above the magazine pouch. Stamped in deep block letters

R.B.D.
Wt. (B)

Got any idea what that might stand for?

I'm probably the only one, but I would like to see pics of it...I like brown holsters... :)

Jerry, the R.B.D. stands for Reichsbahndirektion. I need to do a little research to figure out the location abbreviated as Wt. (B). I'd love to see photos as well.

= National Railroad management?...Interesting... :)

Don, Thanks! That's what I thought at first but was wanting someone like you for confirmation. The D threw me..I was thinking Reichsbahn but what was the D? I have never seen a marking like this so a little out of my league.

Ron Smith on Jan's Forum came to the same conclusion.

By the way, this one is in the WW1 configuration.

Thanks..I am satisfied that it is possibly, probably Reichsbahn. Would be a heck of a nice holster for a Reichsbahn pistol! Wish I had one...

I will see if I can post some photo's.

Jerry, if you have a copy of History Writ in Steel, there is a discussion of these units on pp. 312-16.

Jerry, please have Ellie post some photos of the holster when she gets a chance. It sounds like a dusey!

Don, Unfortunately I have not yet aquired a copy of your fine book..it is on my to do list!

John, Ellie is working on photo's as we speak, they are on their way!

Jerry
Good looking leather. Bill

Jerry I commend You on both your stitching and now your photography. On a more personal note I don't know where I would be today without your referral. Your are definitly a Gentleman and a leather extraudinaire. Behing every man thank God you have her, Ellie! your golden thimble!

Some Reichsbahn pictures of Jerry Burney's because the upload feature has an anti-JB affect on him http://luger.gunboards.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

Thanks Ed! Your a Prince!

Jerry

Hi Jerry,

Found a couple of possible explanations for the Wt. (B) abbreviation.
The best one existed only for a few months in what was to become Eastern-Germany shortly after. The Reichsbahn Directorate at Wittenberge (Brandenburg).

This Reichsbahndirectorate existed in Eastern-Germany for a very short time, from 15 August to 30 September 1945.

Another option is that it refers to Württemberg-Baden, a sector that existed under US control between 1945 - 1952. It merged with Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern to form the current Baden-Württemberg state.

It took a while before the Deutsche Reichsbahn was renamed Deutsche Bundesbahn, which may also explain the use of the R.B.D. abbreviation in the period after the war.

Jerry, I would read the marking under the R.B.D. as WL (B) prossibly B for Berlin with a ding under the "L" that extends under the (W) that makes the L appear to be crossed at the top. I hope that this might lead to a plausible translation. TH

Tom,

Using a letter between brackets, like the (B) in this example, is usually done in the German language to refer to a state. This basically leaves the states of Baden and Brandenburg as viable suspects. If it was Berlin, they would have omitted the brackets, and possibly added the location within berlin, like N.W. for 'North-West', etc..

This practice of adding an indication of state or other geographic location was done because of the confusion that may result because of the existence of double (or even multiple) names of location in the German empire. We see this in the address references of DWM and Mauser also. Mauser always uses Oberndorf am Neckar in order to differentiate it from Oberndorf in Rheinland-Pfalz and Oberndorf in Tirol.

DWM's Karlsruhe branch always refers to itself as DWM in Karlsruhe, Baden
Ludwig Loewe & Cie and DWM in Berlin always added N.W. to the Berlin name. (Berlin Nord-West).

Anyway, this practice of referring to the state or area in order to avoid confusion makes me believe that the (B) refers to a state or area. Not that it helped much :)

Gerben, et al. - on the parallel thread on Jan Still's site, Klaus Merzbach provides an excellent list of Reichsbahndirektionen as of 1927. One of them is Elberfeld which in 1929-30 was consolidated with its neighbor Barmen and renamed Wuppertal. If the holster was stamped in 1930 or later, the marking could be from the Wuppertal Directorate located in Barmen.

that "L" doesn't have the style of the other letters
 

all letters have sharp corners and the "L" is rounded. an L only if he used a different font......my two cents..

Don, sounds like a good explanation also.