Original German Pre-WWII Early Single Decal Commercially Manufactured M1916 Police Helmet with Full Liner & Chinstrap Original Items

Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is a very nice and rare genuine steel construction 1930s Commercial Stahlhelm (Steel Helmet), which was outfitted for early Third Reich Police officers. These helmets were for the most part identical to the later WWI production M18 helmets, with chin straps mounted directly to the liner band. They still retained the long vent lugs for attachment of a stirnpanzer front armor shield. We measured the shell, and it is a 66cm size with the correct lugs without a step.

The helmet has a great first model Third Reich police decal on one side which is in great shape. The decal is roughly 97% intact and exhibits honest wear and patina, with a pleasant amount of slight subtle crazing on the edges. Interestingly enough, this helmet has never had a national tri-color decal, which indicates this is likely an earlier helmet than most commonly encountered.

The liner system has a leather band with three leather panels, which have padding behind them in the typical WWI style. The leather liner band is affixed to the shell via three split liner pins in the same places as on the original M1916 helmet, with an added reinforcement metal washer below the pin. The chinstrap is similar to the later WWI pattern, and is attached to metal standoffs that are riveted directly to the shell, and are not attached to the liner itself. We checked the shell, and it has no production markings at all, probably to obfuscate the origin. The chinstrap is rather crude in the way it is affixed to the bales, with screws sticking out of the bottom on each side.

The exterior of this helmet retains about 95% of the original apple green paint, which was often used on early police helmets.

The leather liner is in very good condition, with the expected deterioration from age and wear. It still has the padding under two of the three panels. The original chinstrap is a bit delicate, but still complete. There is a name written on top of one of the pads, with another name written under the same pad.

Commercial Stahlhelm Police helmets are probably the rarest variety of the Police style and are very hard to find. This is a very good example, and sure to appreciate in value over the years. Comes ready to display!