Original Item: Only One Available. This is a nice, genuine steel construction M34 “Square Dip” Third Reich helmet, outfitted for German WW2 civic police issue. Features genuine double decals of civic eagle and NSDAP swas shield. Comes with complete leather liner and cork washers still intact with all 4 original split pins still intact.
The exterior of this German helmet retains most of the original black paint on the exterior, with some wear through to the red primer coat. There are also areas with complete paint loss, which has resulted in some light oxidation in areas around the rim. There are no major dents present, just the usual wear from service. Both decals are retained at about 90%, with some nice age discoloration and light wear, giving them a great patina.
The interior has retained the black paint very well, with small areas of loss which shows light surface oxidation. There appears to be a maker’s mark on the underside of the left skirt, but it was not stamped well and cannot be read.
The liner is in very good condition, with light wear and some deterioration along the front edge. It is properly ventilated along the brown region, only seen on civic issue liners. There is top tie, but it looks like it may be a wartime shoelace replacement. It still has the crown pad present, but it is an unusual vinyl type and not the leather we often encounter. The liner still has the 5 tabs for securing a leather neck protector, as well as the chin strap, which is unfortunately completely detached but still present with the helmet.
A very nice complete example that comes ready to display!
The Ordnungspolizei, abbreviated Orpo, meaning “Order Police”, were the uniformed police force in NSDAP Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organization was absorbed into the NSDAP monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favor of the central N government (“Reich-ification”, Verreichlichung, of the police). The Orpo was controlled, nominally by the Interior Ministry but its executive functions rested with the leadership of the SS until the end of World War II. Owing to their green uniforms, Orpo were also referred to as Grüne Polizei (green police). The force was first established as a centralized organization uniting the municipal, city, and rural uniformed police that had been organized on a state-by-state basis.
The Ordnungspolizei encompassed virtually all of NSDAP Germany’s law-enforcement and emergency response organizations, including fire brigades, coast guard, and civil defense. In the prewar period, Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, and Kurt Daluege, chief of the Order Police, cooperated in transforming the police force of the Weimar Republic into militarized formations ready to serve the regime’s aims of conquest and racial annihilation. Police troops were first formed into battalion-sized formations for the invasion of Poland, where they were deployed for security and policing purposes, also taking part in executions and mass deportations. During World War II, the force had the task of policing the civilian population of the occupied and colonized countries beginning in spring 1940.