Original German WWII M34 Square Dip Fire Police Helmet with Double Decals – Stahlhelm Feuerwehr Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice example of the early “square dip” M1934 steel helmet, outfitted for German WWII Fire protection police (Feuerschutzpolizei) issue. It is complete with both decals intact and a leather liner which shows age and wear. This example never had an aluminum top comb added, and still has the split pin plugs in place where it would attach.

The exterior of this German helmet retains almost all of the original black paint, with some small chips and scratches. The the Police Civic eagle decal is about 80% complete, but also shows checking and overall aging. The NSDAP Swas decal is about 95% complete, and shows much less checking to the top layer.

On the under side of the rear right skirt, the helmet bears a manufacturer stamp, next to a large letter A:

(LOGO)
D.R.P.
THALE

This indicates production by the Eisenhüttenwerke factory in Thale, Harz, Germany. All four liner attachment pins are still present, with their cork spacers intact. The installed leather liner is however quite delicate, and even the slightest touch will cause additional pieces to fall off. It still has the leather top pad, but only two of the leather tabs for attaching the neck guard. The original chin strap is almost completely missing.

Overall a great opportunity to pick up a very nice WWII Civic Police Fire helmet. Ready to display!

More on the Fire Protection Police:
On June 17TH 1936, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was appointed to the newly created position of Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern (Chief of the German Police in the National Ministry of the Interior), effectively giving him full control of all police agencies within Germany including the Feuerschutzpolizei, (Fire Protection Police). As a result of this appointment and the restructuring of all the separate German state police into a single national police force new regulations were instituted on June 25TH 1936 to bring about uniformity in dress for all police through-out the country. The Police were divided into eight assorted branches of service with each branch being assigned a specific identifying, Truppenfarbe, (branch of service color), with the Feuerschutzpolizei being allocated carmine truppenfarbe. The Feuerschutzpolizei were further distinguished from the other police branches of service with blue uniforms and headgear instead of the typical police green uniforms.

Types of Helmets Used:
Prior to 1929 many fire-fighting units used leather helmets in various styles with most appearing similar to the leather spiked helmet (Pickelhaube) of World War I. These helmets bore a stamped metal crest on the front depicting the province or township to which the fire-fighting unit belonged.

In 1929 a light-weight plastic fiber (Vulkanfiber) helmet was prototyped for general use by all fire-fighting units. The first models were issued in 1932 and proved unworthy of further consideration. As a result a second prototype was explored using light-weight steel alloy known as “Edelstahl.” During this time leather fire-fighting helmets were slowly replaced with a combination of surplus World War I model steel helmets and privately manufactured versions in the “Austrian” pattern shell. These early helmets were generally painted black although some were left in their original field-gray World War I color.

In 1934 the light-weight steel alloy prototype helmet was approved for general use by all fire-fighting units. This helmet is designated the “M1934” by modern collectors because of the year of its introduction. Several different versions of the M1934 helmet exist with many variations resulting from subtle differences in the air vents or visors. The M1934 helmet was painted semi-gloss black inside and out with two insignia placed one on each side.

Fire Protection Police helmets were manufactured with and without an aluminum metal comb. In some cases the metal comb was also painted black. As a result of a large surplus, M1934 helmets without combs were issued in 1940 for general wear by all fire-fighting personnel. The helmets used typical civilian style liner systems and chinstraps. The liners were made so that they could accommodate a removable black leather neck shield.