What is "stahlhelm"

Stahlhelm (plural Stahlhelme) is German for "steel helmet". The Imperial German Army began to replace the traditional boiled leather Pickelhaube (spiked combat helmet) with the Stahlhelm during World War I in 1916. The term Stahlhelm refers both to a generic steel helmet, and more specifically to the distinctive (and iconic) German design.

The Stahlhelm, with its distinctive " coal scuttle" shape, was instantly recognizable and became a common element of military propaganda on both sides, just like the Pickelhaube before it.

Its name was also used by the Stahlhelm, a paramilitary nationalist organization established at the end of 1918.