East German Helmets

[QUOTE: Regarding the making of a BII repro. I doubt this would be a worthwhile endeavor at present, until such time as better photographs are obtainable. It would be like making a model of a WWII Wehrmacht Panther Tank without knowing what the rear looked like.

The M-56 is by no means a near duplicate of the original BII Stahlhelm. The edges are flanged where on the BII they are rolled; and I suspect the metal alloy used is of different composition. I'm sure in addition to the liner and chinstrap, there are other differences as well.

Recently someone sold on German Ebay what obviously was a poor attempt at a repro of the BII Stahlhelm.

So I suppose it can be done, but not convincingly enough to suit my tastes.[/QUOTE]


Thank you for the advice. So as far as is known, no B/II exists in a private collection or other museum?

I'm still wondering about the Marzetti piece i referenced above. It's clearly not an M-56 unless it's a prototype. If not for the rivet positions i would suspect it to be a B/II.

Well, metal composition is not a problem, its just a matter of appearence.

How do we know the B/II has a rolled edge & not a raw edge? I would think at that stage they would go with the raw edge.

The question is whether - as seems likely - a normal M-31 liner was used & just how it was secured, & whether the band had to be altered because of the inner slope. Possibly the rivet shanks needed to be longer to compensate for this.

[ss-mime]

man that East German helmet is "HORRIBLE" ... Not wonder why Hitler rejected those horrible, bad looking and ugly things

[Mikhealc]

Interesting...

I think they are very cool. Mike

[Peter_Suciu]

Originally Posted by Mikhealc

Interesting...

I think they are very cool. Mike

I'm with you Mike. I think East German helmets are cool, but as a helmet collector I like different stuff.

[Mike G.]

Not only cool, but at the time of production - 1956, vastly superior to anything else out there. When the last variant was produced (no rivets), it was without equal until the introduction of kevlar and titanium helmets.

As to looks - I always thought, and still think, it was and is one sharp looking helmet.

[olivyaya]

I love them too !!

Originally Posted by Mikhealc

Interesting...

I think they are very cool. Mike

[Mikhealc]

Originally Posted by olivyaya

I love them too !!

And when they had that cool tri-color red, yellow, black decal...How nice is that?

[Rob Brown]

Originally Posted by ss-mime

man that East German helmet is "HORRIBLE" ... Not wonder why Hitler rejected those horrible, bad looking and ugly things

Hitler rejected it because he was ignorant and didnt see sense, this helmet may have saved more lives if introduced during the war to the german army.

Also may I add, if you have seen the 1989 DDR parade, the East German Army helmet makes a fine militaristic impression and looks really smart with a parade uniform.

[ss-mime]

hitler rejected the helmet because is ugly and make look his troops like Super mario character "Toad". The helmet is all round .. whats so cool about that shape? Aerodinamic perhaps. I'm sorry if I ever offended anyone. Its not the same. German army is and will always be remembered by WWII helmet style.

nothing like this....

From all accounts Hitler rejected the helmet because he wanted to retain the traditional shape. He didn't care that the new model would save lives. This was a guy who wouldn't provide his troops with winter uniforms for Russia, or allow retreat from Stalingrad.

[Peter_Suciu]

Originally Posted by ss-mime

hitler rejected the helmet because is ugly and make look his troops like Super mario character "Toad". The helmet is all round .. whats so cool about that shape? Aerodinamic perhaps. I'm sorry if I ever offended anyone. Its not the same. German army is and will always be remembered by WWII helmet style.

What did Hitler know...he was an art school reject, poor military leader and general megalomaniac. The East German shape is just more modern and sleek.

[Mikhealc]

We would be crazy to argue whether it is ugly or not since ugly is a subjective issue. One man's treasure is another man's trash.

[ss-mime]

modern? come on.... what helmet looks exactly like a PLATE outside down.

Save more lives?? why? its almost the same thing but ALL round in the head part.


Well its all right.. Good luck colleting those helmets.

[Peter_Suciu]

Originally Posted by ss-mime

modern? come on.... what helmet looks exactly like a PLATE outside down.
Save more lives?? why? its almost the same thing but ALL round in the head part.
Well its all right.. Good luck colleting those helmets.

OK, we get it...you don't like the helmet. Some people think SS helmets are overrated too!

But as far as the "save more lives," consider that it has a better slope than the M35 design. Think about tanks...the T-34 had better sloping armor and shells tend to bounce off because they hit the armor at an angle. The same thing happens with helmets!

Likewise the DDR helmet utilizes a better chinstrap system, weights less and provides better ventilation for the wearer...these features would be called "modern." Any helmet upset down might like a plant pot anyway!

As a helmet collector of all periods I find many ugly helmets interesting. A room full of M35 German helmets is great, but I have an appreciation and respect for different things. That's just my taste...but then again...some people find SS helmets overrated!

[Thälmannpionier]

I think this fits in here..



I like both types of Helmets..to know that the NVA helmet was developed in the 3rdReich makes it more atractive for me.

cheers
Andreas

P.S. I have read about a Test with,I think 3 or 4 Helmets incl. NVA,US,Bundeswehr and something else.....believe it or not,the NVA was the best in the Test (safest) of all 4.