Original German WWII Early 1st Pattern NSKK Padded Leather Crash Helmet with RZM Label – size 58 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very rare 1st Pattern NSKK Crash Helmet, complete with an original RZM Label. The helmet is made of molded, smooth, blackened leather helmet with raised, padded, protective bars running horizontally around the helmets bottom edge, and another one running from front to back over the crown top. It features perforated domed steel vents on each side, instead of the later mesh vents.

The Front center of helmet features a first pattern nickel alloy Reichsadler national eagle, with no NSKK marking. The eagle is still held in its correct position. Helmet has a short blackened leather visor stitched to front and stitched on, extended, grained, brown leather, protective side and rear panels. The side panels have extended straps to the bottoms which act as the chinstrap, and both have the leather “ear covers” with openings on the rear to protect against wind noise, but still allow the wearer to hear. Interior of helmet has a tan leather, nine finger liner. Liner is fully intact with all fingers and original tie string. Rear neck flap is in good shape, still supple, and does not have any tearing that we can see.

The liner is ink stamped 58 towards the rear, and ;there are actually some legible district stamps as well on the liner and on the crown pad! Both look to read N. S. K. K. / Motorbrigade Weſtmark in German “Black Letter” typeface, with more information underneath, which is not completely clear. This is for an SA / NSKK district that encompassed the area around Saarbrücken, in the extreme West of Germany.

The helmet also still has the original NSKK RZM tag stitched to the underside of the liner, stating that it is a Sturzhelm nach Vorschrift des NSKK (Crash Helmet according to NSKK regulations). It gives further information regarding the specifications it is made under, and has the German RZM Logo, and Herstellerfirma (Manufacturing Company) identifier 3. There is also tax number 006996. The tag with this information is in very good lightly worn condition, and has a blue Lagerware stamp on the tag as well, which translates to “stock item”. With the

Overall condition does show wear, and this is definitely not an example that spent its life in a depot. The leather flaps show some tearing due to repeated folding during service, and the stitching on the “chin strap” has degraded, so the two pieces of leather are not joined together until the body of the ear flap.

A very nice example of a very hard to find helmet with some great honest period wear and great markings! Ready to research and display!

The Reichszeugmeisterei, or RZM, was was based at the Brown house in Munich and NSDAP party headquarters in Berlin. The RZM ensured that the manufacturers of military items were consistent in design, quality of materials and other characteristics of the items. It also defined standards of design, manufacturing and quality and published an authoritative color chart for textiles.