GERMAN WWII ALLGEMEINE SS DOUBLE DECAL AUSTRIAN M.17 HELMET

An extremely rare helmet, being a WWI produced Austrian shell by the maker ‘Bruder Gottliebb & Braucher of Brunn’. Hundreds of these helmets were confiscated by the newly formed nation of Czechoslovakia at the end of WWI, refurbished with Czech liners and chin straps and then further confiscated by the Third Reich. On confiscation by the Third Reich, the helmet was painted black over the Austrian Gendarmerie green, which is still completely intact on the inner bowl of the helmet. At the end of the Third Reich, Satin black can be seen with various abrasions, with the Austrian Gendarmerie green showing below. The helmet then had twin SS Third Reich decals applied, as can be seen by our web images. The swastika decal is virtually untouched, and the runic decal has minor abrasions. To the left-hand side of the decal is a hole, and to the very centre of the decal an indentation, which may be a partially filled hole. These holes are generally found on the left-hand side of the helmet, but many appear on the right, and are for the Austrian Heimwehr (Home Guard Flower insignia). Identical helmets to these with the hole and the indentation can be seen in photographs in other publications. A perfect example is shown on page 44 of Kelly Hicks excellent work SS Steel, with the puncture holes for the previous Austrian insignia visible to the left, with the slight indentation to the centre of the decal. The interior of the helmet, also shown on page 45, is identical to the example we have here. A fabulously rare helmet, which would be the highlight of any helmet collector's collection.

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