Original Item: Only One Available. This is an outstanding original Imperial German WWI M16 Stahlhelm with approximately 80% of its hand painted panel camouflage still present and two dramatic areas of impact damage through the shell. The camouflage is the classic late war style, using yellow, green, and brown fields separated by heavy black dividing lines over the original Feldgrau finish. Even more interesting, the damage passes directly through the painted surface, with disturbance and discoloration visible around the impact areas. The shell is maker-marked G.62. for Gebrüder Gnüchtel A.G. of Lauter in Sachsen, a manufacturer associated with size 62 M16 shells.

German M16 helmets were originally finished in variations of Feldgrau, but camouflage was also applied in the field during the war. On July 7th, 1918, General Erich Ludendorff issued formal instructions for disruptive helmet camouflage. The order called for large angular fields of matte color, with light and dark shades placed beside one another and the individual fields separated by black lines approximately a finger's width across. The yellow, green, and brown panel pattern surviving on this helmet is strongly consistent with that late war camouflage system.

The helmet shell still has both the dome headed chinstrap retaining rivets, which hold the interior pickelhaube style chin strap lugs in place. Both of these retain the metal end pieces of the chinstrap. It also retains both of the extended ventilation side lugs, which are the correct longer stepped version for size 62 shells. This would ensure proper installation of a Stirnpanzer brow plate regardless of shell size. The right lug has been filled with what looks like a small piece of rope and tar, certainly done by the soldier in the field in order to stop the infamous whistling sound that occurred when it was windy. This lug is also a bit loose now from the damage, but still looks great.

The shell still has an original maker mark over the left ear: G.62. This is the marking for helmet maker Gebrueder Gnuechtel A.G., Lauter in Sachsen, which made shells in ONLY size 62 during the WWI period. This is a very sought-after maker, whose helmets have a unique shape that experienced collectors will recognize immediately. The top of the shell has a partial rolling mill mark, R424, interrupted by a shrapnel gouge, indicating the steel was made at Stahlwerk Röchling in Volkingen.

German M16 helmets were originally finished in variations of Feldgrau. As the war progressed, soldiers also adapted their helmets to battlefield conditions with covers, mud, foliage, and locally applied paint. In July 1918, the German Army issued formal instructions for disruptive helmet camouflage using multiple colors divided by dark boundary lines, creating the familiar late war painted camouflage patterns now strongly associated with Imperial German Stahlhelme.

The unusual projecting lugs of the M16 were retained in modified form on subsequent German wartime helmet designs, while changes to the liner and chinstrap systems resulted in the M17 and M18 developments. Despite these later refinements, the M16 remained one of the defining pieces of German infantry equipment of the Great War.

There are two gouges from gunfire or shrapnel damage, one at the top of the helmet, and one at the side, with a clear connection between the two. You can easily see through one hole from the other, so these were likely caused by a single piece of shrapnel, which entered on the left side and flew out of the top. It is very possible that the soldier wearing this survived that encounter, but the force may have thrown the helmet off of his head, or thrown him.

This is an exceptionally evocative surviving M16. The approximately 80% retained yellow, green, and brown panel camouflage, heavy black dividing lines, clear G.62. Gebrüder Gnüchtel maker marking, partial R424 steel marking, both stepped ventilation lugs, surviving chinstrap hardware, and dramatic damage through the already painted shell combine to give it tremendous historical and visual interest. This is a particularly compelling helmet for an advanced Imperial German collection, a late WWI camouflage display, or a collection focused on battlefield damaged Stahlhelme.