Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice and somewhat rare genuine steel construction M35 "Beaded" Third Reich helmet, outfitted for German WWII civic police issue. These helmets were essentially like the Military issue, however the steel was not as high quality. They were given a "bead" around the edge, to avoid mixing them up with the military version.
The helmet features genuine double decals of the Police Civic Eagle and NSDAP swas shield, which show wear and flaking due to service use and age. Both are retained at around 40%, but are still clearly the correct decals.
Comes with complete 59 marked leather liner with the cork washers and all three split pins still intact. The liner does have some wear around the edge, but it is still supple. It is marked with a rectangular stamp showing a Luftwaffe eagle over L S, indicating original issue to the Luftschutz air raid defense. The top tie strap is completely missing, however the leather chin strap is in great shape.
Shell is stamped with the manufacturers code and size EF 66, indicating that Emaillierwerke AG, of Fulda, Germany manufactured it. Size 66 is a nice large size that can accommodate liners from 58cm to 59cm or US 7 1/4 to 7 3/8. Size 66 shells are much harder to find and are therefore more valuable to a collector. It also is stamped with batch number 20449 / 2 on the interior of the rear skirt.
The exterior of this German helmet retains most of the original paint, with some small chips and scratches. The paint however is dark blue, and we can see the remnants of a large eagle decal on the front of the helmet, which was removed during service. This means that this helmet almost certainly was first issued to the Luftschutz, and then had the decal removed for further use. In the later years of war it was common to repurpose helmets as needed, as Allied bombing had destroyed Germany's industrial capacity.
Overall a great opportunity to get a truly excellent example of a German WWII Beaded M35 Civic helmet, used by the Luftschutz and then by the Civic Police. Ready to display!
