Ordinance on discounts for war invalids in public transport
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Ordinance on discounts for war invalids in public transport |
| Type: | Imperial law regulation |
| Scope: | German Empire |
| Legal matter: | Social law |
| Issued on: | December 23, 1943 ( RGBl. 1944 p. 5) |
| Entry into force on: | April 1, 1944 |
| Expiry: | (Germany only) January 1, 1966 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 978 ) |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The ordinance on perks for war victims in public transport was issued at the beginning of 1944 by Hermann Göring “in appreciation of the great sacrifices that war victims made for the people and the Reich”. The ordinance was considerably expanded by the implementing provisions of January 19, 1944, which followed just a few days later, including with regard to the group of beneficiaries, the procedure for issuing the official ID and the scope of free transport.
War invalids who showed at least a 70% reduction in earning capacity or who were entitled to level III disabled benefits according to the Wehrmacht Welfare and Supply Act received an official ID that allows them to travel free of charge on all trams and buses in local and neighboring areas (no intercity buses), ferries in inland and coastal traffic as well as the S-Bahn in Berlin and Hamburg. Certain injured persons according to other regulations were treated as war invalids. If the war disabled person needed constant accompaniment due to his or her injury, an accompanying person or a dog could also take advantage of the free transport.
The ordinance was repealed in Germany on January 1, 1966 and replaced by the applicable regulations on the free transport of disabled people. In Austria , the ordinance still applies, as the country was part of the German Reich at the time of the enactment and the ordinance was never repealed there. War invalids in Austria can still benefit from free transport, which otherwise does not exist. Plans from 1999 to delete the regulation had to be dropped due to large protests from war disabled associations.