Stahlhelm civil badge

[Mike Clayton]

Here's a few shots of the Stahlhelm badge for wear on the civilian clothes. 22mms with Ges. Gesch. and the Stahlhof hallmark on the reverse. I've been looking for one of these for awhile now.....somewhat hard to find. Any opinions?


Regards, Mike

[Wim Vangossum]

Looks just fine.


Regards, Wim


Freedom is not for Free

[Br. James]

Hi Mike,

A beautiful piece; enjoy it! And I know exactly what you mean about the relative scarcity of this badge for civilian wear -- I had been collecting Stahlhelm Commemorative Badges for quite a few years before I added one of the civilian models to my collection. I still don't understand why that is, either; you'd think that the civilian model would be at least as common as the Commemorative Badge! After all, wouldn't each member of the Stahlhelm Bund want to have one of these to wear on his suit jacket? And even after I finally found one myself some years ago, I don't think I've seen more than one or two since then...?!

Br. James

[RonR]

Mike,

Indeed a tough pin, and yours is in much better condition..........

..............

[Jamz]

I have never seen one other than the couple here on the WAF.
Here's mine. Only shot I have right now is with my entire stahlhelm collection.
John

[Jamz]

to the rear...

[Mike Clayton]

stahlhelm badge

All nice pins guys. I wonder if an enamel civil pin exists with an iron cross on the helmet. It stands to reason that it would, since it's the same size as the military badge helmet. And why an enamel and plain helmet pin for the civilian dress? Seems to be quite alot more plain helmet pins around.

Regards, Mike

[Br. James]

Good questions all, Mike! I have wondered about the presence/absence of the EK on the Stahlhelm Bund badges, and the civilian model isn't the only case. (BTW, the civilian badge in my collection is also without the EK.) I have two examples of the 1925 Commemorative Badge, one with and the other without an EK on the relief helmet, and my Wehrsportkreuz des Stahlhelm also doesn't have the EK on the relief helmet. Then there is the relief helmet pin intended as a lapel pin with a safety pin affixed to the reverse: I have an example of this pin with an EK and another example without. While I don't mean to insinuate that the manufacturers of these helmet lapel pins decided whether or not to include or exclude an EK on their products, my pin with the EK is die-stamped "G.D. Ges. Gesch." to the bottom of the helmet flanged neckguard, while the one without the EK is stamped "N.&H. Ges. Gesch." to the same area.

I must disagree with your statement that the helmet on the civilian badge is "the same size as the military badge helmet." If you compare these helmets closely, I think you'll find that the helmet on the Commemorative Badge is larger than that on the civilian badge; and the helmet pin-back is larger than that on the Commemorative Badge. This being said, the helmet that forms the centerpiece on the Wehrsportkreuz appears to be of the same dimensions as that on the civilian badge.

Thanks very much for a fascinating discussion, and Fröhliche Weihnachten to you,

Br. James

[Mike Clayton]

pin

Here's my small Stahlhelm collection. Br. I measured my member's badges helmet 11mm's X21mm's and it seems to be the same as the enameled civil badge. Like you I have seen member's badges without the EK. But the few civil pins that I've seen all have been without the EK. None the less, these enameled civil pins are pretty scarce.

Regards, Mike

[mike rich]

Dated Stahlhelm Badges

In regards to dated Stahlhelm Badges.

EK on dated badges. For Combatants.

No Ek. Non-Combatants.


Mike

[RonR]

In regards to dated Stahlhelm Badges.

EK on dated badges. For Combatants.

No Ek. Non-Combatants.


Mike

Mike,

On the non dated badges also?..........


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[juoneen]

They are most certainly one of the tougher to find(political badges that is)

[Br. James]

To Mike Clayton:

You've raised an interesting question in the measurements of the Stahlhelm helmets, one which I have never looked into closely. My collection includes all of the Commemorative (dated) Badges from 1919 through 1932 plus the Civilian example, the pin-backs, the NS version, the Frauenstahlhelm (one of the most beautiful badges in any of my collections), the Jungstahlhelm and the Wehrsportkreuz des Stahlhelm. The helmet on the Wehrsportkreuz measures 20mm wide and that on the Civilian Badge at 20mm, but the Commemorative Badges includes helmets of varying widths. This is, in part, due to the fact that the 1919 and the 1920 (transition year) badges at 35mm diameter have a proportionately slightly larger helmet at 22mm, but those from 1921 through 1932 vary between 20mm and 21mm: my 1921 and my 1923 through 1929 are all 20mm wide but my 1922, 1930, 1931 and 1932 are all 21mm wide. For many years I was of the opinion of most of the early authors on the subject that only one manufacturer was involved with turning out the Stahlhelm badges -- at least those marked "STH" since I took the authors at their word that "STH" referred to the firm of Steinhauer & Luck -- but recently someone on the WAF (it may have been Wim Vangossum?) mentioned that "STH" actually stood for Der Stahlhof, the national headquarters of the Stahlhelm Bund and meaning that the badges carrying that logo were from manufacturers licensed to produce them. He also said that at least three or four manufacturers were involved over the years, though none of the badges carried the actual manufacturer's name/logo. This would account for the slight difference in the size of the raised helmet on various badges, and would probably also account for the fact that some Commemorative Badges are die-stamped with an "A" and others are marked "935" for fine silver content, though not all Commemorative Badges have one or the other mark.

I am also fascinated by Mike Rich's comment that the presence or absence of an EK on a Stahlhelm badge helmet refers to "Combatant" or "Non-Combatant" status -- I had never hear that before!

Br. James

[Jimmy]

Tiny

What about this little one ? It measures only 5mm. What is it? No mfg markings.

[Jamz]

Hi Br.
That would be one collection I'll bet everyone here would love to see.
Especially the Frauenstahlhelm. Great info all. John