Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original German WWII Rural Police brown leather motorcycle crash helmet manufactured by Robert Lubstein under the EREL brand. Marked size 56, it retains its molded leather shell, padded protective ribs, silver colored Police eagle, ventilation grommets, extended side and rear protection, chin straps, original liner remnants, and multiple EREL maker markings.

The helmet is constructed from smooth molded brown leather with raised padded protective bars running horizontally around the lower edge and from front to rear across the crown. This design provided additional impact protection for motorcycle personnel.

Screened ventilation grommets are fitted to both sides of the crown, with additional grommets positioned across the rear neck guard.

Brown helmets of this pattern are associated with Rural Police use, while closely related Metropolitan Police examples are more commonly encountered in black.

The front center carries a stylized German Police national eagle, apparently constructed from silvered aluminum. It remains firmly attached and retains its silver colored finish very well.

A short brown leather visor is stitched to the front. The extended side and rear protective panels are made from grained brown leather and lined with felt.

The side panels have oval ear openings without separate protective covers. This may represent an earlier construction variation, although the exact production sequence has not been confirmed from the supplied markings alone.

Extended straps at the bottom of the side panels form the chinstrap. They pass through loops at the lower edges of the panels.

The interior originally carried a tan leather nine-finger liner. One of the surviving front fingers is marked:

56

The helmet is embossed above both ear areas:

GES. GESCH.
FABRIKMARKE
EREL
BERLIN
FIBER-HELM

An embroidered fabric label is also retained at the crown and reads:

Robert Lubstein
ges. gesch.
EREL
Berlin N.W.91

The abbreviation Ges. Gesch. stands for Gesetzlich Geschützt (Legally Protected), indicating that the design was legally protected.

The exterior remains in very good service used condition and shows light to moderate age and handling wear. The brown surface finish is generally well retained.

The outer end of the visor has suffered finish deterioration described as a melted or softened appearance. Similar deterioration is present in the green finish on the visor underside.

The liner and rear neck guard have undergone extensive period or older stitched repairs following earlier damage of unknown cause.

Two original liner fingers are missing, while portions of two additional fingers are also absent. A section from a different brown leather liner was inserted behind the surviving original tan leather and stitched in place to reinforce and replace the damaged areas.

The original upper liner securing cord remains present.

The rear neck flap shows damage to both the exterior leather and the interior wool lining. Several holes pass through the fabric and affect the leather beneath.

The left rear flap also has an externally grafted brown leather patch repair. All of these repairs are sewn in place and remain part of the helmet’s service history.

With its desirable brown Rural Police configuration, complete silver colored eagle, extensive EREL markings, size 56 liner stamp, molded protective construction, ventilation system, side and rear panels, and honest stitched field or period repairs, this is a compelling service used motorcycle helmet. The visor finish deterioration, missing liner fingers, inserted replacement leather, interior holes, neck-flap damage, grafted patch, and general wear are fully disclosed. It would display particularly well in a German Police, Rural Police, motorcycle equipment, EREL headgear, or advanced WWII protective helmet collection.