The two structural aspects of the context of police training in West Germany are the institutional and organizational structure of the German police and the historical and cultural "setting" of the German police. There is no centralized police force. Each German state has its own autonomous police force. Regarding the cultural setting, there is a tradition of belief in impersonal public authority, the identification of government officials with the state, and a tradition of a militaristic police. These factors continue to define the parameters of police training philosophy today. The current organizational structure of German police training is geared toward separate training regimes for the three main strata of police ranks. A second characteristic of the training structure is the provision for all officers to climb the career ladder through practical experience and graduation from prescribed police training courses. This paper describes the training for each of the three rank levels. Two problems and potential opportunities for current and future police training in Germany are also discussed: the new situation after the unification of Germany and the possibility of a new structure for policing in the unified German state in the near future. 22-item bibliography and 3 tables