Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice service used all original example of a German Model 40 Steel helmet, as issued to the Wehrmacht Heer (army). This stamped sheet steel construction helmet retains about 75% of its original lightly textured paint, with wear consistent with use in service. There are some areas where the paint is completely worn away, especially on the sides, and also on the top, a very common area for wear. This helmet appears to never have had a decal applied. This is not uncommon with late war helmets, as sometimes there were not decals available, and the factories needed to make helmets as fast as they could.

The helmet comes with a very nice set of tinted "Ultrasin" goggles, which have blue leather surrounds and are in very good condition. As is usual on these, the elastic has not held up well over the years, but they still look great on the exterior of the helmet. They come complete with their original pressed paper faux leather case, marked Ultrasin 75% on the underside of the flap.

The shell is VERY faintly stamped with Q64 on the rear skirt above heat lot DN36?, indicating that F.W. Quist G.m.b.H in Esslingen, Germany manufactured it. It looks like the stamping was not done well on this example, but it is definitely genuine. As the war progressed, Quist moved the size stamping to the rear to save production time, as did other makers. Size 64 is a nice medium large size that can accommodate liners from 56cm to 57cm or US 7 to 7 1/8 . Size 64 shells are harder to find and are therefore more valuable to a collector.

All three liner retaining pins are intact, however they look to be plated, so the paint has flaked off a bit on two, showing a bright plated under layer. The interior of the helmet still has the original M31 leather liner, with all eight of the original fingers intact along with a worn original top tie. The leather is still soft and supple, and has a lovely chestnut brown color, showing a bit of staining around the edge, as well as some wear through around the front edge. The outer side of the galvanized steel liner band is marked 64 n.A / 57, indicating that it is a size 57 liner for a size 64 shell. The right side displays the full manufacture information, as well as a date:

B. & C.
BERLIN
1940

This liner was made by Biedermann & Czarnikow, a German company who later moved operations to Łódź in occupied Poland to take advantage of the slave labor in the ghetto located there. NSDAP authorities renamed Łódź to Litzmannstadt in honor of the German General Karl Litzmann who had captured the city in the previous World War. This is exactly the right period and type of liner for this helmet, and we see no evidence that it was ever changed out. The original chinstrap is completely missing.

Overall an very nice and untouched M40 "No Decal" Heer Army helmet, with a great service used look and some great goggles! M40 helmets of this quality are always the hardest to find on the market. This is an item that will only continue to appreciate in value over time.

The first "modern" steel helmets were introduced by the French army in early 1915 and were shortly followed by the British army later that year. With plans on the drawing board, experimental helmets in the field, ("Gaede" helmet), and some captured French and British helmets the German army began tests for their own steel helmet at the Kummersdorf Proving Grounds in November, and in the field in December 1915. An acceptable pattern was developed and approved and production began at Eisen-und Hüttenwerke, AG Thale/Harz, (Iron and Foundry Works), in the spring of 1916.

These first modern M16 helmets evolved into the M18 helmets by the end of WWI. The M16 and M18 helmets remained in usage through-out the Weimar Reichswehr, (National Defence Force, Circa 1919-1933), era and on into the early years of the Third Reich until the development of the smaller, lighter M35 style helmet in June 1935.

In 1934 tests began on an improved Stahlhelm, whose design was a development of World War I models. The Eisenhüttenwerke company of Thale carried out prototype design and testing, with Dr. Friedrich Schwerd once again taking a hand.

The new helmet was pressed from sheets of molybdenum steel in several stages. The size of the flared visor and skirt was reduced, and the large projecting lugs for the obsolete armor shield were eliminated. The ventilator holes were retained, but were set in smaller hollow rivets mounted to the helmet's shell. The edges of the shell were rolled over, creating a smooth edge along the helmet. Finally, a completely new leather suspension, or liner, was incorporated that greatly improved the helmet's safety, adjustability, and comfort for each wearer. These improvements made the new M1935 helmet lighter, more compact, and more comfortable to wear than the previous designs.

The Army's Supreme Command officially accepted the new helmet on June 25, 1935 and it was intended to replace all other helmets in service.

The M1935 design was slightly modified in 1940 to simplify its construction, the manufacturing process now incorporating more automated stamping methods. The principal change was to stamp the ventilator hole mounts directly onto the shell, rather than utilizing separate fittings. In other respects, the M1940 helmet was identical to the M1935. The Germans still referred to the M1940 as the M1935, while the M1940 designation were given by collectors.

The last wartime upgrade to the standard helmet took place on 6 July 1942 at the request of the Army High Command. The rolled edge found on M1935 and M1940 helmets was discontinued as a measure of economy. On 1 August 1942 the first M1942 helmets were placed into production, and this was the model produced until late in the war, when most factories were captured or stood idle due to material shortages.