The world had never seen an army like the German army of WW2; as Winston Churchill once said, "If it is to live in peace, it must never see another". At its apogee, Germany's conquests extended from the French channel ports in the West to Stalingrad in the East. In 1935, Hitler abrogated the Treaty of Versailles, and Germany began rebuilding its armed forces. As the Germans developed and issued the M-35 stahlhelm, the Wehrmacht also scoured its warehouses for old Great War helmets, which were refurbished with new paint jobs, decals, and liners, and reissued to soldaten of the new and ever expanding German Heer. This program was made even easier with the "Anschluss" German annexation of Austria in March 1938, yet another step towards "peace for our time". This German Army WW2 Heer Single Decal Austrian Reissue M-17 Stahlhelm Steel Combat Helmet is in fair condition, with a deep dent in the top front crown, moderate denting at the right crown, moderate loosening to the ventilation bolt at the right crown, at least three heavy coats of reissue dark feldgrau repaint around the exterior, almost being a dark gray or black color, heavy scattered surface chipping to those finishes, some flaking to the Heer decal at the left crown, the national tri-color decal having been removed from the right crown, the maker and size code as well as the lot number having been obscured from the interior skirt with those coats of reissue repaint, some scattered dark patina around the interior crown, missing the split rivets, missing the liner, missing the chinstraps, and with moderate overall age wear evident. Otherwise, the helmet is in fair shape, with no other damage to the tough steel construction, which retains approximately 60% of the reissue multi-coat dark feldgrau period repainted exterior finish. Most interestingly, it boasts the original Heer single decal at the left crown, which shows some great "spider crazing", sports the classic Austrian M-17 ventilation bolts at each side of the crown, and features the original metal chinstrap bales at each side of the interior. An honest example of a rare, original German Army WW2 Heer Single Decal Austrian Reissue M-17 Stahlhelm Steel Combat Helmet.
Uniforms