Rarest to most common German Stahlhelms of WW1

Josh1336

Josh1336

New member
Hello,

I am fairly new to this page and have been trying to piece together a list of the rarest types of German Stahlhelms from the Great War. So please if you know any additional info please post on here so I may revise. This List will incorporate styles as well as Manufacturers. Granted any war time stahlhelm with original paint ups its rarity but Im talking about the average helmet in general. Throughout WW1 Germany produced roughly 8.5 million stahlhelms and it is thought that 80% have been destroyed or lost to time. Meaning that there is a possibility of 1.7 million helmets still somewhere in the world.

Germany had a percentage guideline to how many helmets it wanted produced per size. Sizes were in centimeters and went from 60 to 68. (I have heard rumors of size 70 but I have never even seen a documented photo of one) This percentage was listed by Ludwig Baer in Vom Stahlhelm Zum Gefechtshelm.

Size 60 - 1%
Size 62 - 13%
Size 64 - 42%
Size 66 - 40%
Size 68 - 4%

With this info, obviously sizes 60 and 68 are going to be on the rarer side; here is what I believe is the list from rarest to most common WW1 German Stahlhelms.



#1 Eisenhüttenwerke Thale A.G. (E.T.) Square Dip Original Stahlhelm ~30,000-35,000 produced in late 1915 majority were destroyed or recycled. It is Mythical

#2 Körting & Mathiesen (K&M) Manufacturer Mark Stahlhelm, in sizes 66, 68 it is the rarest manufacturer. Legendary

#3 Siemens & Halske A.G. (Superimposed H over an S) Manufacturer Mark stahlhelm, only produced in size 60. Extremely Rare

#4 E.T. Size 60 Stahlhelm, together with the SH above, only 85,000 were produced (Per the percentage quota) Extremely Rare

#5 E.T. Size 64 M18 Cutout Stahlhelm, dispersed in August of 1918 to the front, with only 100,000 produced and its unique shape makes it Extremely Rare

#6 C. Thiel & Söhne (TJ) Manufacturer Mark 66, 68 Stahlhelm, known as another unusual manufacturer as well as the harder to find size 68. Very Rare

#7 E.T. Size 68, due to the rarity in size making it Very Rare

#8 Gebrüder Bing A.G. (GBN) Size 64 Stahlhelm, this is the only Barvarian Manufacturer and the manufacturer of the Duck Bill Variant. Rare

#9 J. & H. Kerkmann (K) Size 64 Stahlhelm, another manufacturer of the Duckbill Variant. Rare

#10 Vereinigte Deutsche Nickelwerke (NJ) Size 62 Stahlhelm, a less known Manufacturer. Rare

#11 Gebrüder Gnüchtel A.G. (G) Size 62 Stahlhelm. Scarce

#12 Hermann Weissenburger & Co. (W) Size 66 Stahlhelm. Scarce

#13 Richard Lindenberg A.G. (Bell L) Size 64 Stahlhelm. Scarce

#14 F.W. Quist (Q) Size 66 Stahlhelm. Scarce

#15 Eisenhütte Silesia (Si) Size 62, 66 Stahlhelm. 3rd most common manufacturer. Common

#16 F.C. Bellinger (BF sometimes FB) Size 62, 64 Stahlhelm 2nd most common manufacturer. Common

#17 E.T. 62, 64, 66 Stahlhelm, the most common manufacturer in WW1. Common


Again, in no way is this list the law of the land, I am a novice collector who is trying to learn and create a list that could assist future collectors. If you agree, disagree, have suggestions, know of different helmets or want to add on, please do so! I'd love to see what others think.
 
I know of only one, and perhaps two BF helmets that are marked FB, so extremely rare unless you have other information or can prove otherwise. Many long time collectors don’t even know of their actual existence.
 
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As far as anything being Mythical or Legendary, there is no such thing on that list. I think rare and extremely rare cover it pretty well. They all can be found, but don't come inexpensively and you have to pay up substantially for them and/or network to acquire one of the more elusive manufacturers. For example - a Square Dip minus the strap, with bring back provenance, sold on well-known public auction a two days ago.

Legendary, Mythical, or Unicorn would be something unique like an extremely rare maker with camouflage paint or personal provenance to a prominent period figure (IMO). Curiously, both actually do turn up on occasion and someone is fortunate enough to obtain them.
 
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Josh1336 said:
Hello,

I am fairly new to this page and have been trying to piece together a list of the rarest types of German Stahlhelms from the Great War. So please if you know any additional info please post on here so I may revise. This List will incorporate styles as well as Manufacturers. Granted any war time stahlhelm with original paint ups its rarity but Im talking about the average helmet in general. Throughout WW1 Germany produced roughly 8.5 million stahlhelms and it is thought that 80% have been destroyed or lost to time. Meaning that there is a possibility of 1.7 million helmets still somewhere in the world.

Germany had a percentage guideline to how many helmets it wanted produced per size. Sizes were in centimeters and went from 60 to 68. (I have heard rumors of size 70 but I have never even seen a documented photo of one) This percentage was listed by Ludwig Baer in Vom Stahlhelm Zum Gefechtshelm.

Size 60 - 1%
Size 62 - 13%
Size 64 - 42%
Size 66 - 40%
Size 68 - 4%

With this info, obviously sizes 60 and 68 are going to be on the rarer side; here is what I believe is the list from rarest to most common WW1 German Stahlhelms.



#1 Eisenhüttenwerke Thale A.G. (E.T.) Square Dip Original Stahlhelm ~30,000-35,000 produced in late 1915 majority were destroyed or recycled. It is Mythical

#2 Körting & Mathiesen (K&M) Manufacturer Mark Stahlhelm, in sizes 66, 68 it is the rarest manufacturer. Legendary

#3 Siemens & Halske A.G. (Superimposed H over an S) Manufacturer Mark stahlhelm, only produced in size 60. Extremely Rare

#4 E.T. Size 60 Stahlhelm, together with the SH above, only 85,000 were produced (Per the percentage quota) Extremely Rare

#5 E.T. Size 64 M18 Cutout Stahlhelm, dispersed in August of 1918 to the front, with only 100,000 produced and its unique shape makes it Extremely Rare

#6 C. Thiel & Söhne (TJ) Manufacturer Mark 66, 68 Stahlhelm, known as another unusual manufacturer as well as the harder to find size 68. Very Rare

#7 E.T. Size 68, due to the rarity in size making it Very Rare

#8 Gebrüder Bing A.G. (GBN) Size 64 Stahlhelm, this is the only Barvarian Manufacturer and the manufacturer of the Duck Bill Variant. Rare

#9 J. & H. Kerkmann (K) Size 64 Stahlhelm, another manufacturer of the Duckbill Variant. Rare

#10 Vereinigte Deutsche Nickelwerke (NJ) Size 62 Stahlhelm, a less known Manufacturer. Rare

#11 Gebrüder Gnüchtel A.G. (G) Size 62 Stahlhelm. Scarce

#12 Hermann Weissenburger & Co. (W) Size 66 Stahlhelm. Scarce

#13 Richard Lindenberg A.G. (Bell L) Size 64 Stahlhelm. Scarce

#14 F.W. Quist (Q) Size 66 Stahlhelm. Scarce

#15 Eisenhütte Silesia (Si) Size 62, 66 Stahlhelm. 3rd most common manufacturer. Common

#16 F.C. Bellinger (BF sometimes FB) Size 62, 64 Stahlhelm 2nd most common manufacturer. Common

#17 E.T. 62, 64, 66 Stahlhelm, the most common manufacturer in WW1. Common


Again, in no way is this list the law of the land, I am a novice collector who is trying to learn and create a list that could assist future collectors. If you agree, disagree, have suggestions, know of different helmets or want to add on, please do so! I'd love to see what others think.
Click to expand...
Great and very interesting topic. Well done Josh.
 
Helmetz said:
As far as anything being Mythical or Legendary, there is no such thing on that list. I think rare and extremely rare cover it pretty well. They all can be found, but don't come inexpensively and you have to pay up substantially for them and/or network to acquire one of the more elusive manufacturers. For example - a Square Dip minus the strap, with bring back provenance, sold on well-known public auction a two days ago.

Legendary, Mythical, or Unicorn would be something unique like an extremely rare maker with camouflage paint or personal provenance to a prominent period figure (IMO). Curiously, both actually do turn up on occasion and someone is fortunate enough to obtain them.
Click to expand...
Yes I was looking at that square dip that sold recently. Sadly not in my budget right now. Thanks for the feedback
 
I’ve owned most of these in my collection at one time or another. Had a superb square dip and a few very nice ET cutouts along with some of the harder to find manufacturers and sizes.
 
That must have been an amazing sight to see such an amount of different types, sizes and manufacturers together!

Interesting to have these listed by the way. Thanks to the topic starter to post it here.

I have 4 M16's:

BF62
G62
Unknown 64
W66

The third one has no size or maker mark in the shell. It has a size 64 mentioned on the steel liner ring but that's it. Is there any info on how often this happened?
 
Grabenmaxx said:
That must have been an amazing sight to see such an amount of different types, sizes and manufacturers together!

Interesting to have these listed by the way. Thanks to the topic starter to post it here.

I have 4 M16's:

BF62
G62
Unknown 64
W66

The third one has no size or maker mark in the shell. It has a size 64 mentioned on the steel liner ring but that's it. Is there any info on how often this happened?
Click to expand...

IMG_0953.jpeg

IMG_0956.jpeg

This was just part of my stahlhelm collection after I thinned it out but before I sold it all and left the hobby.
 
Hi Josh,
What about the survival rates of these helmets? The M18 cut-out for example you have as "extremely rare", yet in the Reichswehr they seem to have been quite abundant.
I don't think we can look at production numbers alone, and would the model have an impact on the relative scarcity too? (e.g. less M16 than M17 due to being in service for a year longer, etc.)
As the owner of a single M18 Q66 helmet (https://www.pickelhaubes.com/xf/threads/stahlhelm-m18-by-quist.11091/) the relative scarcity is not that important to me, I'm just happy to have one, but when I see some of the extensive collections above then I see where this could become more relevant.
Regards,
Lars
 
Grabenmaxx said:
That must have been an amazing sight to see such an amount of different types, sizes and manufacturers together!

Interesting to have these listed by the way. Thanks to the topic starter to post it here.

I have 4 M16's:

BF62
G62
Unknown 64
W66

The third one has no size or maker mark in the shell. It has a size 64 mentioned on the steel liner ring but that's it. Is there any info on how often this happened?
Click to expand...
Austrian Stahlhelm versions were very similar to the German counterparts. What color is the paint on that unknown ones? Typically Austrians were a brown tone with canvas chinstraps and leather liner. They also have remnants of the army inspection ink stamp that could still be on the skirt underside.
 
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