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WW1 Austrian Berndorfer Helmet


Gildwiller1918

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During WW1 the Austrians used several Steel helmets, with the most common being the German made M16 and variants of them. They also made their own version of the German helmets that had unique heat stamps, liners and chin straps. Additionally the Austrians made another steel helmet that have was very different from the German M16 type. This was the Berndorfer Helmet model 1916 (M16) which was made by Arthur Krupp A.G.Berndorfer and had a limited production run from 1916 to 1917, in which approximately 140,000 were produced. It had a 3 leaf leather pad liner, which was similar to the German helmets, but had a canvas chinstrap of a off white to a khaki color. The helmet shape was bell like and had a vent on the top of the helmet, unlike the germans which had them on the sides. This helmet also had a sniper plate which could be added on like the german models however for this helmet the steel plate was attached to the helmet by the use of straps. The last picture shows this set up, as the straps wrap aroundf the helemt and attach to the cent on the top. These are very rare and there are reproductions for sale. 

(Source: Internet)

 

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Here is a current reproduction of the attachable brow plate. 

Brow plate.jpg

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There are not many making fakes of these helmets, but I did find one source in eastern europe that did make them at one point, below is a picture of this helmet. However all the internal parts, such as the liner and chinstraps are all faked and easy to come by. 

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The Imperial War Museum, London had a nice example on display many years ago. The original paint finish on this was khaki and not fieldgrey.

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I went to the London Museum in 2014 and 2015, they had a great many items from the war on display, lots of items I will never get...

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  • 3 years later...

Just saw this original, it has quite a few holes rusted trough, they are asking 2.200,- Euros.
The helmet was found recently on the Italian Alpine Front. One way of getting rich

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Yes, rare helmet to find today, especially with the liner & chinstrap

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No liner, no chinstrap, only the remains of the steel liner band.

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