Original German Pre-WWII M34 Square Dip Double Decal Police Helmet Converted from Fire Helmet Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice genuine steel construction M34 “Square Dip” Third Reich helmet, originally outfitted for German WWII Fire police issue. It was fitted with an aluminum comb on top, and had double decals of of a Swas on the right, and a tilted national colors decal on the left. However, it then had the comb removed, and the original decals painted over with black enamel paint. Then the later pattern double decals of the Civic Eagle (Reichsadler) and NSDAP Swas on a shield were affixed. We are not sure why this was done, and this is the first example like this that we have seen.

The helmet comes with complete leather liner with all four split pins, which has great condition leather and even still has the crown padding intact! The chin strap is complete and the liner still retains the five leather “tabs” that would allow attachment of the rear skirt.

The exterior of this German helmet retains almost all of the original black paint, with some small chips and scratches. The NSDAP Swas decal is retained over 95%, with just some small chips and scrapes, and the civic eagle is about 80%, with overall wear. The shape of the original decals can still be seen under both of the later issue decals.

The underside of the rear skirt bears a clear DRP / THALE stamp on the rear skirt under a “Lion” logo, indicating production by the Eisenhüttenwerke, Thale factory. This is the same factory that developed the M-35 lineage of helmets. Next to the marking is a large letter “M“. There is also a split pin plug in the lowest hole for the removed aluminum combe, while the other two holes were left open.

Overall a great opportunity to get a truly interesting example of a WW2 Civic Police helmet. 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.