Original German WWII Army Heer M40 Single Decal Helmet with Liner in Excellent Condition – ET64 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent all original example of a German WWII M40 helmet, issued to the Heer (Army). The condition leads us to believe that it was never actually issued or used in combat. The helmet was scrutinized from front to back, and everything we can see about it is correct.

This stamped sheet steel construction helmet retains almost all of it’s original Feldgrau paint, with just some minor scuffs and scratches keeping it from being mint. The left side of the helmet features an original Heer eagle decal, which is retained about 100%, with just some fading from age.

The reverse, interior, neck guard apron is batch number stamped 1063, and the interior, left side, apron has a stamped manufacturer’s code and size, ET64 indicating that indicating it was manufactured by Eisenhuttenwerk AG, Thale Harz, Germany in size 64. Size 64 is a nice medium size that can accommodate liners from 56cm to 57cm or US 7 to 7 1/8. Size 64 shells are harder to find and are therefore more valuable to a collector. This helmet even still has the original ink “dome stamp” on the top inside of the shell.

All three liner retaining pins are intact, with original paint fully intact. The interior of the helmet still has the original M31 leather liner with all eight of it’s fingers intact. The liner is ink stamped with a size 57 in a circle, with the original size adjustment string. There is also the correct felt padding under the liner, which is marked 64 n.A / 57 on the outside of the galvanized steel band. The chinstrap is not present, most likely removed at some point to put on another helmet.

The zinc-plated steel band is also is maker marked:

B. & C.
LITZMANNSTADT
1943

This liner was made by Biedermann & Czarnikow, a German company who moved operations to Łódź in occupied Poland to take advantage of the slave labor in the ghetto located there. NSDAP authorities renamed Łódź to Litzmannstadt in honor of the German General Karl Litzmann who had captured the city in the previous World War.

Overall this is an excellent example of a German “Single Decal” M40 helmet. It does not appear to have been repainted or messed with in any way.  The shell does not appear to have been stripped or sandblasted, and there is definitely only one coat of paint on it. This is an item that will only continue to appreciate in value over time.

The first “modern” steel helmets were introduced by the French army in early 1915 and were shortly followed by the British army later that year. With plans on the drawing board, experimental helmets in the field, (“Gaede” helmet), and some captured French and British helmets the German army began tests for their own steel helmet at the Kummersdorf Proving Grounds in November, and in the field in December 1915. An acceptable pattern was developed and approved and production began at Eisen-und Hüttenwerke, AG Thale/Harz, (Iron and Foundry Works), in the spring of 1916.

These first modern M16 helmets evolved into the M18 helmets by the end of WWI. The M16 and M18 helmets remained in usage through-out the Weimar Reichswehr, (National Defence Force, Circa 1919-1933), era and on into the early years of the Third Reich until the development of the smaller, lighter M35 style helmet in June 1935.

In 1934 tests began on an improved Stahlhelm, whose design was a development of World War I models. The Eisenhüttenwerke company of Thale carried out prototype design and testing, with Dr. Friedrich Schwerd once again taking a hand.

The new helmet was pressed from sheets of molybdenum steel in several stages. The size of the flared visor and skirt was reduced, and the large projecting lugs for the obsolete armor shield were eliminated. The ventilator holes were retained, but were set in smaller hollow rivets mounted to the helmet’s shell. The edges of the shell were rolled over, creating a smooth edge along the helmet. Finally, a completely new leather suspension, or liner, was incorporated that greatly improved the helmet’s safety, adjustability, and comfort for each wearer. These improvements made the new M1935 helmet lighter, more compact, and more comfortable to wear than the previous designs.

The Army’s Supreme Command officially accepted the new helmet on June 25, 1935 and it was intended to replace all other helmets in service.

More than 1 million M1935 helmets were manufactured in the first two years after its introduction, and millions more were produced until 1940 when the basic design and production methods were changed to reduce production time. This mainly included having the vent hole being stamped directly into the shell, as opposed to being riveted on later.