Stahlhelm

Stahlhelm
M35 on display inside Historical Museum Rotterdam
Type	Combat helmet
Place of origin	Germany
Service history
In service	1916–1992
Used by	See Users
Wars	World War I German Revolution Chinese Civil War Winter War World War II Korean War Vietnam War
Production history
Designer	Dr. Friedrich Schwerd
Designed	1915
Produced	1916
Variants	See Variants

The Stahlhelm ('steel helmet') is a German military steel combat helmet intended to provide protection against shrapnels and fragments or shards 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 ('spiked helmet') 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 post–World War I organization for German ex-servicemen that existed from 1918 to 1935. After World War II, the German Bundeswehr (English: Federal Armed Forces) and Nationale Volksarmee (English: National People's Army) continued to call their standard helmets Stahlhelm, but in Bundeswehr the design was based on the American M1 helmet, while the National Volksarmee's M56 helmet was modelled on an unused 1942-1943 German design. The Bundesgrenzschutz (English: Federal Border Service), however, continued to use the original German design, until both troops switched to the new M92 Aramid helmet.^{[clarification needed][1]}