Reichswehr german helmet m16 ww1

Description

RARE WEIMAR PERIOD DOUBLE DECAL Württemberg HELMET. Condition is "Used". Shipped with USPS Priority Mail.
Rare Wiemar period double decal modified M18 helmet of the State of Württemberg. These helmets are exceedingly rare because after the treaty of Versailles, the German Army was restricted to a 100,000 man standing Army. With Württemberg being a very small State, that makes this a very rare helmet indeed. This helmet is a modified M16 helmet with a complete liner and chinstrap. The leather to both liner and chinstrap are in excellent condition. The interior of the helmet is marked Si66 indicating the maker Eisenhuette Silesia, Paruschowitz Oberschlesien and size is 66. The liner has been modified to accept the new style chinstrap. The helmet retains most of its original feldgrau factory paint. The chinstrap has a sliding steel length adjustment buckle intact and also the spring loaded attachment clip. Very nice helmet, scarce to see with the original chinstrap which are so often missing on these M18's. Super nice helmet! 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, 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 era and on into the early years of the Third Reich until the development of the smaller, lighter M35 style helmet in June 1935.