Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original German WWII Heer Army single decal M35 steel helmet with a heavily worn white winter camouflage overpaint, 1940 dated 57cm M31 liner, and ET64 shell stamped with heat lot number 3318. The helmet appears to have been arsenal refinished in lightly textured Panzergrau on both the exterior and interior before receiving the later white exterior camouflage finish.

The stamped steel M35 shell shows evidence of a long service life. Beneath the white camouflage is a lightly textured gray finish applied to both the exterior and interior, consistent with a later refinish rather than the helmet’s earliest factory paint. The white winter camouflage was then applied only to the exterior and now shows extensive wear, staining, abrasion, and flaking.

Some areas of the white paint are especially delicate and continue to show edge lifting and loss, with flakes evident in the bag it came in. As such we recommend handling it very carefully, and cannot guarantee that additional flaking will not occur. The helmet also appears to have received a later clear protective coating, probably applied by a collector. This coating has yellowed with age and reportedly produces a slight green fluorescence under ultraviolet light, consistent with an older clear Nitrocellulose lacquer treatment. Because this coating is not part of the wartime finish, it is fully disclosed.

The left side carries a Heer eagle decal that remains approximately 75% intact. It shows considerable service wear, including loss to the upper surface, but retains areas of the original metallic appearance beneath.

The left interior skirt is stamped:

ET64

identifying manufacture by Eisenhüttenwerk of Thale, located in the Harz district in Saxony, Germany. The "E.T." letters are in gothic font and have periods after them, indicating production during roughly 1935-1937. After this they switched to "Latin" sans serif font without the periods. Size 64 is a nice medium size that can accommodate liners from 56cm to 57cm or US 7 to 7 1/8. Size 64 shells are harder to find and are therefore more valuable to a collector. The rear interior skirt is stamped:

3318

for the heat lot number.

All three liner retaining pins remain present and retain much of the gray finish, while most of the white winter camouflage has worn from their exterior surfaces.

The helmet retains an M31 leather liner with all eight fingers intact. The leather remains soft and supple and is in very good condition overall, showing staining and wear concentrated around the lower edge where it folds over the inner band. The original top tie string is no longer present.

The galvanized steel liner band is marked over the left ear:

64 n.A. / 57

indicating a 57cm liner assembly for a size 64 helmet shell. The leather itself also carries a circled:

57

size marking.

The opposite side of the liner band is marked:

SCHUBERTH-WERKE K.-G.
D. R. P.
1940
BRAUNSCHWEIG

identifying manufacture by Schuberth-Werke of Braunschweig in 1940. The marking is somewhat difficult to read because of bending to the liner band.

No chinstrap is currently installed.

With its ET64 early M35 shell, lot number 3318, worn Heer eagle decal, exterior white winter camouflage over a later gray refinish, and 1940 dated Schuberth-Werke 57cm liner, this is a visually distinctive service used Heer helmet. The later clear lacquer coating, yellowing, fragile camouflage paint, liner band bending, missing top tie, and absent chinstrap are all fully disclosed. It would fit especially well in a Heer helmet, M35 steel helmet, winter camouflage, ET / Thale production, or advanced German WWII headgear collection.

The German Stahlhelm
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, (Iron and Foundry Works), 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, (National Defence Force, Circa 1919-1933), 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 1934 tests began on an improved Stahlhelm, whose design was a development of World War I models. The Eisenhüttenwerke company of Thale carried out prototype design and testing, with Dr. Friedrich Schwerd once again taking a hand.

The new helmet was pressed from sheets of molybdenum steel in several stages. The size of the flared visor and skirt was reduced, and the large projecting lugs for the obsolete armor shield were eliminated. The ventilator holes were retained, but were set in smaller hollow rivets mounted to the helmet's shell. The edges of the shell were rolled over, creating a smooth edge along the helmet. Finally, a completely new leather suspension, or liner, was incorporated that greatly improved the helmet's safety, adjustability, and comfort for each wearer. These improvements made the new M1935 helmet lighter, more compact, and more comfortable to wear than the previous designs.

The Army's Supreme Command officially accepted the new helmet on June 25, 1935 and it was intended to replace all other helmets in service.

More than 1 million M1935 helmets were manufactured in the first two years after its introduction, and millions more were produced until 1940 when the basic design and production methods were changed, replacing the multi-piece riveted vent with one stamped directly into the steel. Later, in 1942 the rolled steel rim was removed from the pattern to further expedite production.