Stahlhelm

The Stahlhelm (German for "steel helmet") is a term used to refer to a series of German steel combat helmet designs intended to protect the wearer from common battlefield hazards such as shrapnel.

The armies of the great powers began to issue steel helmets during World War I as a result of combat experience and experimentation. The German Army began to replace the boiled leather Pickelhaube with the Stahlhelm in 1916. The ''Stahlhelm's distinctive coal scuttle shape was instantly recognizable and became a common element of propaganda on both sides, like the Pickelhaube before it. The name was used by Der Stahlhelm'', a German veterans' organization that existed from 1918 to 1935.