Original Item: Only One Available. This is an M34 "Square Dip" Civic Third Reich helmet, outfitted for German WWII Fire police (Feuerwehr) issue. Almost all of these that we have seen have a steel shell, however this shell is aluminum, with an aluminum comb on top. Features genuine double decals of a NSDAP Party Shield on the right, and NSDAP Civic Police Eagle on the left. Comes with a leather liner with all four split pins present with their cork spacers, as well as a leather top pad. The chin strap is fully intact, showing some splitting of the finish and partial cracks. The liner still retains the five leather "tabs" that would allow attachment of the rear skirt.

The exterior of this German helmet retains most of the original black paint, with some small chips and scratches, which show the aluminum material. We also noticed many rough areas, which indicate that the underlying aluminum has started to oxidize.

The NSDAP Party Shield decal is about 90% complete with some chipping, and the NSDAP Civic Police Eagle is about the same, with some small chips. There is also a strong D.R.P. / THALE stamp on the rear skirt under a "Lion" logo, indicating production by the Eisenhüttenwerke, Thale factory. This is the same factory that developed the M-35 lineage of helmets. The top mounted aluminum comb is in very good shape, with just a few small dents and scratches, and a bright finish. There is a pad underneath, which looks to be fully original.

The leather liner is not size marked, and has the usual ventilation holes seen on these Civic helmets in the forehead area. Red foam-rubber padding would normally be present beneath this area, however it has rotted out, and most is missing. The top tie strap is missing, and some of the eyelets on the ends are damaged due to water having dripped on them.

This German WWII M34 “Square Dip” fire-police helmet is distinguished by its less commonly encountered aluminum shell and matching aluminum comb, along with its clear D.R.P./THALE maker marking and well-retained double decals. Most of the original black finish remains, although scattered chips, scratches, and areas of aluminum oxidation are present. The leather liner, top pad, chinstrap, rear-skirt attachment tabs, and all four liner split pins with cork spacers remain present, but the forehead padding has largely deteriorated, the top tie is missing, several liner eyelets are damaged, and the chinstrap shows finish splitting and partial cracking. Despite these condition issues, it remains a substantially complete and cohesive example of an aluminum M34 fire-police helmet with strong surviving markings and fittings.

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.