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03-31-2010 03:55 PM
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Re: Question: about helmet
by
CMc
I could be wrong, but I think it's a 1950s East German design. If I remember right it was based on a prototype from the Nazi era, which had been designed as a replacement for the various models of Stahlhelm then in service in the Third Reich, with the sloping shape more likely to deflect an object that would otherwise pierce most Stahlhelms. The story I heard was that Hitler considered the prototype too foreign-looking and unlike the then-current German helmet, (presumably he thought that as they started to appear in dribs and drabs, soldiers unfamiliar with the shape might assume the sillouette, or the hard to make out figure of a camoflagued soldier wearing it to be an enemy soldier, which could result in friendly fire incidents. Or maybe he just didn't like the shape?) In any case the fact that the helmet didn't look like a Second World War-era helmet later worked to its advantage, as the East German military supposedly preferred the design not only for its better protection, but for its lack of Nazi connotations. Certainly I've seen pictures of 1950s-60s era East German soldiers wearing helmets like that.
The famous picture that comes to mind is of the famous defector, Conrad Schumann.
he was a young East German NCO sent to guard the construction site of the Berlin Wall, which at that stage was for the most part just a low barbed wire fence rather than the infamous high wall it would soon become. Unhappy with his situation, and encouraged by crowds on the West side of the wall who shouted for him to come over, he lept over the fence and was whisked away to safety by West Berlin police. He was later able to settle in West Germany, and married a Bavarian woman, but he said that even his escape never left him feeling truly free, and even after German reunification he didn't feel comfortable returning to the former East. Unfortunately Conrad Schumann never did find happiness in his life, and during an espisode of depression in 1998 he killed himself.
Apologies for going off topic there, but since I was using the famous image of Conrad Schumann's defection I felt it was only right to mention a little bit about the history behind the photograph. Getting back on topic though, it looks to me like the helmet you've got there is an East German one, such as the one that can be seen in the picture I've put up.
very interesting cmc ,ive seen this iconic picture many times but never knew the story behind it ,many thanks ,james
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