History: German soldier lighting his cigarette with a flamethrower, 1917. [1000 x 1444]

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Stahlhelm

The Stahlhelm ('steel helmet') is a German military steel combat helmet intended to provide protection against shrapnels and fragments or shards of grenades. The term Stahlhelm refers both to a generic steel helmet and more specifically to the distinctive German military design. The armies of major European powers introduced helmets of this type during World War I. The German Army began to replace the traditional boiled leather Pickelhaube ('spiked helmet') with the Stahlhelm in 1916. The Stahlhelm, with its distinctive "coal scuttle" shape, was instantly recognizable and became a common element of propaganda on both sides, just like the Pickelhaube before it. The name was also used by Der Stahlhelm, a post–World War I organization for German ex-servicemen that existed...