I have an old german helmet with a signature inside

T

Thomas Magnum

New member
I've been trying to find someone to read this signature on the inside of this helmet and I haven't been able to do it. As far as I've been able to tell, this is the first steel helmet after the leather spike one. I could be wrong because this is obviously not my specialty. I can e-mail pictures to anyone, this is also a camoflauge design which is rusted on the outside. Please help because I think I have a piece of history and I'd like to find who this helmet belonged to, and learn their story, thanks, Jesse
 
Hi Jesse, You can send photos to me at [email protected] To tell which modle of Stahlhelm you have, look at the band on to which the liner pads are sewn, if it is leather you have a M1916 Helm, if it is steel, you may have a M1917. Most of these Helmets have a name written somewhere in them, the name is often in Sutterlin script and difficult to read. Where did you Acquire the helmet, did a relative bring it back in the war?
Welcome to our forum.
Gus
 
Here are some pictures i took, sorry for the quality, I'm gonna have to borrow a real digital camera. the sig is hard to read, but for someone who reads german maybe it won't be. I got the helmet from a relative of my wife who died and it was in his basement for who knows how long. i was very excited to find it because it is a real piece of history, pretty cool in my opinion. any additional info would be appreciated, thanks, jesse
oh, never mind, can't figure out how to put up pics, but i will e-mail. sorry[/img]
 
Hi Jesse,
I will post the photos as soon as they arrive. You have to go through a photo hosting site on the new forum, it saves space for Brian and works very well once you get the hang. Otto showed me how to do it through imageshack.
Best wishes

Gsu
 
Hi All,
Here are a few photos of Jesse's M1917 camo Stahlhelm
img068827hd.jpg

img068927uw.jpg

img069020uh.jpg

And the signature in the rim, the best I can do is Ltinks, I am very sure of the Lt, but the writing is faint and my brain is weak.
img068421ir.jpg
 
Any info on how to properly care for the helmet. the leather on the inside is pretty fragile, and I'd like to keep it from getting any worse, baseball glove oil maybe?
 
Hi Jesse,
Oil is not a good thing to use on any leather, I use saddle soap, it is a glychol baswd product I think, The other members have favorite products, and hope fully they will chime in.
Best wihses
Gus
 
Hi again Jesse,
Lexol is the product that has been recomended for helmet liners.
Gus
 
There are two camps on that one, I feel it is better to keep the steel dry and not add anything to the surface. A friend likes to wipe his with a light oil, his claim is that they were painted with oil paint, so the oil would rejuvinate the finish and retard corrosion. I am sure there will be other opinions offered. There is another product called Evapo-rust discussed on the forum, that could be a good preservative, but I have not used this product.
Gus
 
Nice M1917. Is that a faint shadow of a scull & cross bones on the front? If so that could be a former Freikorps helm.

Geo
 
Wyliecoyote said:
Nice M1917. Is that a faint shadow of a scull & cross bones on the front? If so that could be a former Freikorps helm.

Geo
Click to expand...

Yeah Geo, you can be right. Good eyes!
Otto
 
Hi Jesse, the Freikorps were the paramilitary units that tried to keep order in the post WWI Germany, George and Otto are looking at the white paint on the front of your helmet, but I think that they are seeing things, Otto is getting old, and George watches too many cartoons, that has gotta be hard on the eyes. I will see if I can find a photo fo a Freikorps helmet with the marking.
Best wihses
Gus
 
Hi
My CRT is going south and photos are darker than they should be I guess. I lightened the photo of the front of the helmet and there is what appears to be maybe the adhesive from a shipping label down the front, is that so? Anyhow, that lighter color on the crown looked like it might have been a skull and cross bones symbol.
Freikorps were a sort of militia raised by former Imperial Army Officers to protect the Reich from internal political revolt and external threats from foreign aggressors. I believe the German Government disbanded them in 1921.

George
 
This is just a observation but the white residue you are seeing is possibly the remains of a shipping label that was affixed to the helmet when it was sent home by a trophy hunter soldier. I have seen some helmets with the label still affixed and some where they where partially removed.

John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top