Original German Pre-WWII Early Commercial M34 Square Dip 1st Pattern Order Police Helmet with Double Decals - Orpo

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice service used genuine steel construction M34 "Square Dip" Third Reich helmet, outfitted for German WWII Police issue, as they were issued early during NSDAP rule in Germany. The helmet is also a very early "commercial" M34, which has the earliest pattern mesh vents close together on each side, which are separate pieces inserted into the helmet. Features genuine double decals of a "mobile" Swas on the right, and a tilted national colors decal on the left. There are holes on the top and back for the mounting of a comb, but we see no evidence that one was ever fitted for fire police use.

The exterior of this German helmet retains much of the original black paint, with chips, scratches, and oxidation spotted across the exterior. The Swas decal is nearly 90% complete, and the National Colors is retained at about 75%, but also looks like somehow TWO decals were placed overlapping, something we have not seen before. We checked on the interior of the helmet, but we were not able to find any maker markings, which is common for a commercial helmet, usually marked with a sticker.

Comes with an aged leather liner with all three split pins still present, though only the front two still retain their cork pads, while the rear has rotted out and rusted the shell. The liner is a civic type, a transitional design between the WWI three panel liner and the "finger" style liners used during WWII. The leather is definitely in delicate condition, and there is a good amount of paint loss and oxidation inside the shell, indicating possible weather damage. The top tie string is missing, however it still has the three tabs for attachment of a leather neck shield, which would be changed to five tabs on later helmets. The chinstrap is attached to its own rivets on each side, and is an early two buckle type similar to WWI Stahlhelm chinstraps.

Overall a great opportunity to get a very early NSDAP Civic Police helmet with lots of character. Ready to display!

The Ordnungspolizei, abbreviated Orpo, meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in NSDAP Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organization was absorbed into the NSDAP monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favor of the central N government ("Reich-ification", Verreichlichung, of the police). The Orpo was controlled, nominally by the Interior Ministry but its executive functions rested with the leadership of the SS until the end of World War II. Owing to their green uniforms, Orpo were also referred to as Grüne Polizei (green police). The force was first established as a centralized organization uniting the municipal, city, and rural uniformed police that had been organized on a state-by-state basis.

The Ordnungspolizei encompassed virtually all of NSDAP Germany's law-enforcement and emergency response organizations, including fire brigades, coast guard, and civil defense. In the prewar period, Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, and Kurt Daluege, chief of the Order Police, cooperated in transforming the police force of the Weimar Republic into militarized formations ready to serve the regime's aims of conquest and racial annihilation. Police troops were first formed into battalion-sized formations for the invasion of Poland, where they were deployed for security and policing purposes, also taking part in executions and mass deportations. During World War II, the force had the task of policing the civilian population of the occupied and colonized countries beginning in spring 1940.