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**iannima** · 12-01-2012, 01:27 PM

Sorry to spoil it... but the plastic helmet is not exclusive equipment to the honour guards of the three Wachregiment... because it certainly was used extensively by the Zentralorchester der NVA, and Torsten

has told us that he was meant to receive one such helmet for the 1989 parade but that in the end it did not happen because of logistic problems. But this obviously means that probably all the officer cadets at the annual anniversary parade, at some stage, were meant to wear plastic helmets. and probably did wear them, but not in 1989.
as for the honour guards of the three Wachregiment: the Friedrich Engels one is the one with most evidence available wearing plastic. The honour guard of the Felixe also wore the plastic helmet but photographs proving this conclusively are much rarer. I think Ralph

here has a couple, so I shall not steal his thunder and let him post them... As for the Hugo Eberlein, the plain truth is that so little is known of this Regiment that we cannot confirm for sure that there ever were ceremonial units within it, let alone whether these wore the plastic or steel helmet on such occasions.

**Mike G.** · 12-01-2012, 02:31 PM

Various NVA marching bands were aurthorized wear of the composite ceremonial helmets. A search will pull up lots of pics on this forum.

Matteo,

Remember Paul from the Gunboards forum?
He was a member of the NVA 2 Wachregiment and remained in Berlin during the transition of this unit to the Friedrich Engels Wachregiment. So he was actually in both.

I had many personal email exchanges with him back then, and he was knowledgeable about the Hugo Eberlein Regiment.
For example, he confirmed for me that they were never issued a cuff band in their own name, unlike the MfS, NVA 2, and Friedrich Engels. Their cuff band simply read, "NVA-Wachregiment".
He also confirmed for me that they never participated in Ceremonial functions in the aspect the Friedrich Engels did.
Unfortunately, it never occurred to me to inquire about whether they were equipped with the composite ceremonial helmet. In hind sight, I wish I had.
He did tell me the primary role of the Hugo Eberlein Wachregiment, which was based in Strausberg, was in a guard capacity, protecting buildings of military and government interest, as well as military themed monuments/parks.

**ehrentitle** · 12-01-2012, 02:47 PM

Originally posted by Mike G. View Post

He did tell me the primary role of the Hugo Eberlein Wachregiment, which was based in Strausberg, was in a guard capacity, protecting buildings of military and government interest, as well as military themed monuments/parks.

Mike, As a side note the Hugo Eberlein Wachregiment was replaced in guarding the senior leaders of the NVA at Strausbergin in 1981 by a company of NVA Fallschirmjäger. Apparently the Minister of National Defense had found a Wachregiment guard asleep which caused him to replace them with more dependable paratroopers.

**Ralph P** · 12-01-2012, 05:23 PM

Matteo - Thanks for your comments and bringing me into the discussion.

As for the plastic helmet, in volume II figure 410, the helmets that were worn by FD-WR appear to have a high shine on them. So the discussion about the photos could go either way, but at the moment I think they could be wearing plastic helmets.

I am not sure if my post better assists the discussion? I hope it does.

Originally posted by iannima View Post

Sorry to spoil it... but the plastic helmet is not exclusive equipment to the honour guards of the three Wachregiment... because it certainly was used extensively by the Zentralorchester der NVA, and Torsten

has told us that he was meant to receive one such helmet for the 1989 parade but that in the end it did not happen because of logistic problems. But this obviously means that probably all the officer cadets at the annual anniversary parade, at some stage, were meant to wear plastic helmets. and probably did wear them, but not in 1989.
as for the honour guards of the three Wachregiment: the Friedrich Engels one is the one with most evidence available wearing plastic. The honour guard of the Felixe also wore the plastic helmet but photographs proving this conclusively are much rarer. I think Ralph

here has a couple, so I shall not steal his thunder and let him post them... As for the Hugo Eberlein, the plain truth is that so little is known of this Regiment that we cannot confirm for sure that there ever were ceremonial units within it, let alone whether these wore the plastic or steel helmet on such occasions.

**Mike G.** · 12-01-2012, 10:09 PM

Originally posted by ehrentitle View Post

Mike, As a side note the Hugo Eberlein Wachregiment was replaced in guarding the senior leaders of the NVA at Strausbergin in 1981 by a company of NVA Fallschirmjäger. Apparently the Minister of National Defense had found a Wachregiment guard asleep which caused him to replace them with more dependable paratroopers.

Hi Kevin,

I never knew this. Thanks for the historic update. This of course brings up another question.

Upon being relieved of guard duties in Strausberg, what became of the Hugo Eberlein Wachregiment? Were they disbanded? I know of no other function they performed, other than that in Strausberg .....

**ehrentitle** · 12-01-2012, 10:17 PM

Originally posted by Mike G. View Post

Hi Kevin,

I never knew this. Thanks for the historic update. This of course brings up another question.

Upon being relieved of guard duties in Strausberg, what became of the Hugo Eberlein Wachregiment? Were they disbanded? I know of no other function they performed, other than that in Strausberg .....

Dave, In 1981 the NVA Para Battalion formed a 4th Company of 200 men to guard the Minister of National Defense, his deputies and their families. Other buildings at Strausberg may still have been guarded by the Hugo Eberlein Wachregiment. By 1983 all four NVA Para companies rotated through Strausberg to perform these duties.

**RedCatcher1986** · 12-01-2012, 11:18 PM

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your replies. I inquired on this because I have acquired a uniform from the Wach Regiment with a cuff title for the NVA-Wachregiment but I was wondering would it be appropriate to display with the plastic helmet so often associated with the Friedrich Engels unit or would the visor cap or steel helmet be more associated with the Hugo Eberlein unit? A lot of interesting information has surfaced in light of the question at hand however

Sincerely,
DeWayne

**iannima** · 12-02-2012, 01:38 AM

I think the question then is more whether the tunic you have acquired is piped at the collar or not. If it is, then it is absolutely fine to display it with a plastic helmet, because only the ceremonial units would have received the special tunic for honour duties, which is not so special after all, as it basically is an officer tunic with soldier's insignia. If instead it is NOT piped at the collar, then it is more appropriately displayed with Schirmmütze or side cap, because those tunics were worn by all members of the Wachregiment, but there is practically no evidence of its ever having been used in a BIG ceremonial occasion like the Neue Wache etc. at which we would expect the plastic helmet to be deployed.

**Mike G.** · 12-02-2012, 02:47 PM

Found this video, which shows the composite helmet in use by the W.R. Engels and also one of the NVA military bands in unison with the Engels.

I was surprised by the extreme clarity of this particular film, which is unusual. It is nice, crisp and clear.

Hope it adds tot the thread.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwSYz82k1KA
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**RedCatcher1986** · 12-02-2012, 03:43 PM

Originally posted by iannima View Post

I think the question then is more whether the tunic you have acquired is piped at the collar or not. If it is, then it is absolutely fine to display it with a plastic helmet, because only the ceremonial units would have received the special tunic for honour duties, which is not so special after all, as it basically is an officer tunic with soldier's insignia. If instead it is NOT piped at the collar, then it is more appropriately displayed with Schirmmütze or side cap, because those tunics were worn by all members of the Wachregiment, but there is practically no evidence of its ever having been used in a BIG ceremonial occasion like the Neue Wache etc. at which we would expect the plastic helmet to be deployed.

The tunic is piped and is for a Stabsoberfähnrich, I am unaware of whether the helmet is primarily worn for a specific group of soldiers ie. one type of helmet is strictly for enlisted or if visor caps are primarily worn by officers etc etc etc

**iannima** · 12-02-2012, 04:34 PM

The Ehrenkompanie would have worn the plastic helmet regardless of rank, as the youtube video shows.

**RedCatcher1986** · 12-10-2012, 11:41 PM

Originally posted by iannima View Post

The Ehrenkompanie would have worn the plastic helmet regardless of rank, as the youtube video shows.

Thank you for the clarification iannima

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