BACKGROUND: 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, 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 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 an effort to reduced construction time and labor costs minor modifications were introduced in March 1940 resulting in the M40 helmet. Further construction modifications were undertaken in August 1942 resulting in the M42 helmet. Beside the basic army style helmets the Germans also produced a wide variety of civic style helmets with no fewer then nine assorted variants of the model M34. These civic style helmets were utilized by assorted civilian and para-military organizations including the police. Shortly after Adolf Hitler’s ascension to power on January 30TH 1933 the independent Prussian state police introduced new helmet insignia in an attempt at creating uniformity in dress. The new helmet insignia consisted of a small, canted, white, swastika positioned on the right side and the Prussian state shield in black and white positioned diagonally on the left side. This insignia was utilized until April 23RD 1934 when new insignia for all of German police agencies was introduced that consisted of a small, canted, white, swastika positioned on the right side and the German national tri-color shield in black, white and red positioned diagonally on the left side. This second pattern insignia was only utilized until July 11TH 1934 when a third pattern insignia was introduced that consisted of a larger, canted, white, swastika positioned on the right side and a slightly modified German national tri-color shield in black, white and red positioned diagonally on the left side. This third pattern was utilized until a fourth and final pattern was introduced on July 28TH 1936. With Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler’s appointment to Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern, on June 17TH 1936, he effectively had full control of all the police agencies within Germany. 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 to bring about uniformity in dress for all police through-out the country. The new dress regulations included an attempt to standardize the helmets of the police and on July 28TH 1936 regulations once again altered the insignia on the police helmets with the new wreathed police eagle emblem to be applied to the left side of the helmet and the NSDAP party shield applied to the right side. The July 1936 police helmet insignia was utilized for the duration of the war.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The heavy, stamped, sheet steel construction M16, style, helmet retains about most of its transitional, field-grey over-paint. The left side of the helmet has a black based, silver, wreathed, police eagle decal which is retained about 90%. Under the wing of the eagle can be seen the typicaly attachment hole for the Austrian insignia. The right side of the helmet has a NSDAP party shield decal with a narrow black outer border, a red base field with a central, white, circle with a canted, black, swastika. The party shield decal is retained about 95%. All three liner retaining rivets, both of the extended, M16/M18 style, ventilation side lugs and both of the large, dome headed, chinstrap, retaining rivets are all intact. Complete with original three pad leather liner. Original chinstrap. Nice large size, about 60 head size. Textbook Austrian transitional!