page_title: Stahlhelm
section_title: Civil defence variant
hierarchical_section_title: Stahlhelm / Variants / Civil defence variant
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Fulda, Deutsches Feuerwehrmuseum — NS-Luftschutzhelm um 1944
context_page_description: The Stahlhelm is a specific type of German military headgear made of steel, which is primarily intended to provide protection against shrapnel and fragments of grenades. The term Stahlhelm refers both to a generic steel helmet, and more specifically to the distinctive German military design.
  The armies of major European powers introduced helmets of this type during World War I. The German Army began to replace the traditional boiled leather Pickelhaube with the Stahlhelm in 1916. The Stahlhelm, with its distinctive "coal scuttle" shape, was instantly recognizable and became a common element of propaganda on both sides, just like the Pickelhaube before it. The name was also used by Der Stahlhelm, a German first World War ex-servicemen's organization existing from 1918 to 1935. After World War II, the German Bundeswehr continued to call their standard helmet Stahlhelm, but the design was based on the American M1 helmet. The Bundesgrenzschutz, however, continued to use the original German design, until either troop switched to the new M92 Aramid helmet.
context_section_description: In 1938, the Germans developed a variant of the Stahlhelm with a wider, flared peak and ventilation holes originally intended for firefighters, civil defense, Reichsarbeitsdienst, and Luftschutz personnel. Known as the gladiator pattern, the privately purchased Luftschutz helmet was originally made from three pieces of steel and typically painted black or dark blue. Later in the war these were issued to Volkssturm personnel, and sometimes repainted in Feldgrun. By 1944, the helmets were stamped from a single steel sheet, and the original cloth lining replaced with vinyl to reduce costs. Due to the relatively small number produced, original helmets from the war years are considered rare. However, a modified postwar version in fluorescent green, white or yellow continued to be issued to rescue workers in the Bundesrepublik until the early 1990s.
caption: 1944 pattern Luftschutz helmet
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