An incredibly rare, named, Spanish Civil War German M35 helmet used either by the German Volunteer Force (Condor Legion) or by the Spanish Nationalist Forces under Franco during the civil war (or both).
In the civil war, M35's were used by the Condor Legion as well as exported by the Germans to the Spanish Nationalist forces, who also re-used many of the Condor Legion M35's which were left behind. Hence it is difficult to decipher which force used this helmet, or indeed if it was both. Either way, this M35 has been reconditioned in 1943 (As most Spanish civil war helmets were), with post civil war Spanish green paint (this paint is WW2 period). During this period M35 helmets usually restricted to better quality units, guards, elite forces etc.
The helmet also features a Spanish liner and the remnants of a Francoist badge holder, these are harder to date but likely were added somewhere between the mid-later part of the civil war to the 1943 refit, as the liner is 2nd pattern (as opposed to the pre-early civil war black Spanish liners).
Helmets exported to Spain, or used by the Condor Legion were a mix of marked and unmarked, this helmet has a makers mark, ET66 meaning it was made by Eisenhüttenwerke, Thale. It also has an inspection mark visible in the last picture.
It is named F Fernandez Gomez, with his unit details.
Original leather chinstrap on one side.
Size large approx 60 cm
