Edelstahl Medium Weight Combat Helmet

Product Description: This is a beautiful and extremely well-preserved example of an Edelstahl Medium Weight Combat Helmet, with a desirable military type “apple green” paint finish. This is an early, 1930s helmet that could have been used in the military or in paramilitary organizations. It’s a rather uncommon helmet variant, and especially difficult to find in this condition. This example retains nearly all of the original paint, with only a few small scuffs to the exterior, and one very small ding on the rear. It’s extremely clean, inside and out. The four liner rivets are untouched and have paint that matches the rest of the shell. The original liner is in excellent condition, and retains the original black leather chinstrap, which shows some wear and flaking of the original finish. The inside of the skirt is stamped “EDELSTAHL.” There is no indication that this helmet ever had any decal. It would be hard to find a nicer example of an Edelstahl Medium Weight Combat Helmet.

Historical Description: The German steel helmet was introduced in WWI. After that war, most German paramilitary and civil uniformed organizations wore surplus WWI style helmets, sometimes repainted or with newly added organizational logos. With the Nazi rise to power in 1933, the size of the various German organizations was greatly increased, resulting in greater demand for helmets than could be filled with WWI surplus. As a result, a variety of new helmet types were created to fill this demand. Some of the new helmets were commercially available and could be individually purchased. Others were intended for issue by various organizations. Most of these helmets were copies of the WWI type helmets, including the SS-RZM helmet of the early 1930s. In 1934, a new helmet type was created for use by German police, fire protection crews, and other organizations. Known to collectors as the M34, it featured a liner with integral chinstrap, a lower profile than the WWI helmets, and “salt shaker” style air vents instead of the earlier “Frankenstein” lugs. Other helmets were produced that followed this same general pattern, and were used by the Luftschutz and other organizations. In military organizations, all earlier patterns were generally replaced in 1935 by the new M35 helmet. But earlier versions continued to be used as parade helmets, and civil organizations used variations of these early helmets until 1945 and in some cases, even later.

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