A Second World War Ordnungspolizei Stahlhelm.
The Ordnungspolizeipolizei were the uniformed police force in Nazy Germany between 1936 and 1945. They were controlled by the leadership of the SS until the end of World War II.
In June 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. 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 Polizei.
The helmet variants that were used from then until the end of World War two were the M35, M38, M40 and M42.
This sheet steel construction M40 helmet example retains about most of its original slightly textured field-grey paint.
The left side of the helmet has an unbordered, black based, police decal with the second pattern, silver, wreathed police eagle as introduced on July 1936.
The right side of the helmet has a party shield decal.
The interior of the helmet has a light tan, leather liner which is fully intact with all fingers but the original tie string has been split.
The helmet is fitted with its original leather chin strap.
The liner is well marked with a black size inkstamp, “59” and the leather is still quite supple.
The interior reverse neck guard apron is serial number stamped, “1041” and left side apron is stamped, with the manufacturers code and size, “ET68” indicating manufacture by, Eisen-und Hüttenwerke, AG Thale/Harz, size 68.
There is a stamp in the bottom of the helmet which has been slightly scrubbed through.
~ Dimensions ~
The helmet measures 28 cm (11 inches) front to back and 24 cm (9 ½) inches side to side.
It weighs 1.51kg.
~ Condition ~
The helmet has some signs of surface rust and both decals are a little scratched but in good order.
The leather chin strap again has some cracking and a little wear but is generally in good order.
The liner flaps show signs of wear but are generally in good condition.
ref. GS001A712 / MLAEEOXM
