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They've stopped doing this now, but the former Bundesgrenzschutz used to fine airlines a few hundred Marks/Euros for every non signed passport presented to them at airports. One day BA was presented with a huge bill, given that the UK isn't in Schengen, and there was an enormous crackdown. The message is an interesting legacy of that time. In 2005 this was taken over by the Bundespolizei (BPOL) and the practice stopped at least on EU nationals. I imagine non EU nationals still have this issue.