West German Helmets

[Gordon Craig]

German Quist Post WWII German Helmet Border Patrol

Found this on ebay. Looks like a post war Quist helmet to me? What is sad is where he says "If you would like decals applied to it, please let me know."

I think I better buy one soon before they are all ruined by reenactors. LOL.

What $ amount would you say a post war Quist helmet is worth??

George

PS got my post war used m34 curved dip fire helmet in the mail today, original liner made by EREL DRGM, looks like original chin strap and the two decals are nicely preserved for all time under a thick coat of post war black paint

George,

You have asked an interesting question re the price of a Quist helmet. I don't think the one shown in the auction is worth $250.00 but what are they worth? A "Q" marked helmet is hard to find. Since they haven't been made since 1960 they are obviously rare when compared to LS made helmets which are everywhere. Perhaps $100.00 is a fair price. I guess the market will tell us in due time.

Regards,

Gordon

[myddrcaps]

...the reference books we refer to on this thread were all written by Lugwig Baer. He produced a very well researched three volume set on German helmets up to modern times. These books were translated into English and published by Bender in a single volume, about the same size as one of the books in Baer's three volume set, called "HISTORY OF THE GERMAN STEEL HELMET 1916-1945". The majority of the historical and factual background included in Baer's original 3 volume set was omitted from Bender's book. I have a copy but I rarely refer to it as Baer's original books contain much more relavent data....

Gordon

Would the above books make reference to the Quist post war M40 type helmet in my last post??

I've asked a fellow I deal with in Germany to try and find one for me.

Could I trouble you for what book, volume, and page it is on in those books?
So that I could use it for his reference? I hate to ask...

George

[Gordon Craig]

George,

I'll have a look and get back to you.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Gordon

Would the above books make reference to the Quist post war M40 type helmet in my last post??

I've asked a fellow I deal with in Germany to try and find one for me.

Could I trouble you for what book, volume, and page it is on in those books?
So that I could use it for his reference? I hate to ask...

George

George,

Sorry to take so long to anser your question. Yes, Baer does mention in his volume II that wartime helmets were refurbished. Possibly by Schuberth and LS and VDN but he is not clear of what liner was used. Probably the one with the web straps shown earlier in this thread. He also illustrates an M42 helmet modified for the 1953 liner and since it is in the section on early BGS helmets these may have been produced for the BGS as well.
Even with the best of reference books things are not always clear!

Regards,

Gordon

[Esbitmännchen]

I got this a few weeks back. It was described as "M40 altered for the police Lower Saxony after 1945"

I belive the helmet shell is a Quist M40 shell. From what I understand Quist placed their maker's mark at the rear skirt some
time in 1942-'43. The rear skirt of this helmet is stamped "DN519" with a very fait "O" or "Q" directly above. Any
size stamp is to faint to read. I'm told "DN" denotes Made in Germany.
Q
DN519

The Liner Pin Holes have been welded closed, the weld then ground clean. Two small rivets hold the chinstrap bales in
place. The dome of helmet has the same screw liner attachment as the M53 helmets. The helmet has been striped and repainted a dark gray.

The liner has similar leather, web strap and metal band components as the one shown in the thread "The first model BGS
Helmet" with the addition of the five fingered dome screw mount of the M53 liners. Instead of the black foam rubber pad
this liner has a felt or fibre pad that was toped with a foam pad that has since turned to dust.

Hello friends,

this helmet is in fact a helmet of "Polizeireserve Niedersachsen". Several years ago nearly all of this helmets were destroyed, only some survived. I own a WW I "M18" helmet, altered in the way shown here. These are no Berlin helmets, Niedersachsen had gray helmets as well.

In the German forum "militaria-fundforum.com" I wrote (forum-name "esbitmännchen") an article about West German BGS and Police helmets after 1949.

Regards,
Esbitmännchen

[Gordon Craig]

Esbitmännchen,

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for clearing up the history of these helmets. Would you please posta link to the article you wrote in the German language forum or post it again here. I for one would really like to see it. The more refernce material we have the better.

Regards,

Gordon

[Esbitmännchen]

Hello Gordon,

thanks for the welcome !! Here is the link, I hope you are a forum-member and you can see the pictures.... :http://74.55.131.18/~militari/showthread.php?t=68261

Regards,
Esbitmännchen

[Gordon Craig]

Esbitmännchen,

Thanks for the link. It looks like an interesting thread but, as you mentioned, since I am not a forum member I can not see the pictures. Some of what you said on the German language forum has been said here but perhaps you could just add what has not been covered here from what you wrote on the German forum. If you are willing to do that and can not post pictures with the text you could email them to me and I would post the pictures for you.

Regards,

Gordon

[Klaus1989]

Esbitmännchen,
Excellent thread (and collection)! I am also member on Militaria-Fundforum (same username), but have not posted my collection because I have not paid for full membership.

I learned much about these helmets. I knew not about olive Berliner Bepo helmets or that BGS-See had similar to blue Berliner Bepo helmets in service. So the difference is with BGS-See helmets is, that they have a green Spinne instead of blue and paint is rough?

regards
Klaus

[Gordon Craig]

Klaus,

Your comments about the Berliner BEPO have really peeked my interest in what Esbitmännchen has to show us!

Esbitmännchen,

Now I really hope that you will share your knowledge with us here on this forum. Berlin BEPO is one of my main interests and I would very much like to know more about the helmets Klaus has mentioned. I have not heard of them before. Many of us here do not speak German so we rely on people like Klaus, and now hopefully you, to assist us with information only avaiable on German speaking forums.

Regards,

Gordon

[Esbitmännchen]

Hello Gordon, hello Klaus,

this is the problem: I can't post any pictures. I would like to share my knowledge with you.....

Gordon: My idea is to send you text and integrated pictures as an e-mail to your privat e-mail-adress. So you can post it here....

To the olive "Berliner Helm": it is the first model, about 1950 to the 80 th, stamped inside "PP Berlin GB" (Polizeipräsident Berlin, GB (?) ) . After this model the gray helmet appeared, but they were used side by side in the "BePo" (I have seen both of them on the wardrobes of the policemen in the barracks).

To the "BGS-See" helmet: the colour is a little bit darker as the Berlin-helmet. It is rough paint and the "Spinne" is BGS-green. I think only the shell was painted by the BGS itselfs (it came from the BGS-See of Neustadt/Holstein).

In my opinion there are some interesting helmets in the thread, like: M 18 Niedersachsen/Polizeireserve, UN-helmet (former WH ET 64 M 35, later adopted by BGS and than used in the cambodia campain in 1992/1993), Schleswig-Holstein white steelhelmet for riot in 1968, GSG 9 helmet, etc.

I hope my English is ok, so everybody can understand, what I have to tell you...

Regards,
Esbitmännchen

[Gordon Craig]

Esbitmännchen,

Your English is very good and easy to understand. I look forward to receiving your emails, adding to my knowledge and posting the pictures.
I have some PP Berlin GB marked items and the understanding in the English collecting community is that it does stand for Polizeipräsident Berlin, GB. The GB is somewhat confusing and I don't think anyone really knows what it stands for. I also have at least one item marked PP Bln.

Regards,

Gordon

[Esbitmännchen]

Gordon,

give me your e-mail adress in a PM. My mail is ready, I only need your info.

Regards,
Esbitmännchen

[Klaus1989]

If you use image website like photobucket, you can post here without full member status.

Regards
Klaus

[Gordon Craig]

Klaus,

TJ and I try and discourage people posting using photobucket. It just leads to frustration later when you look at a thread and the images are gone. I would prefer to post items myself then we always have the pictures for future reference. If I had my way the possibility of posting via a host site would be removed.

Regards,

Gordon