NSDAP early booklet ID with photo and stamps - ww1 veteran from n.s Deutscher frontkampfer-bund stahlhem
The Stahlhelm, League of Front Soldiers, was a military association during the Weimar Republic . It was founded shortly after the end of the First World War on December 25, 1918, by reserve officer Franz Seldte in Magdeburg . Seldte co-chaired the association with Theodor Duesterberg . The association was considered closely aligned with the anti-democratic German National People's Party (DNVP), and the Stahlhelm often provided (armed) security at its party meetings .
From 1933 onwards, the Stahlhelm was gradually brought into line by the National Socialists and dissolved in 1935. After the war, it was re-founded in 1951 as Der Stahlhelm – Kampfbund für Europa (The Steel Helmet – Combat League for Europe ).
On January 30, 1933, Stahlhelm leader Seldte joined Hitler's cabinet as Minister of Labor . Only through the support of conservatives such as Franz von Papen , Hugenberg, and Seldte, did President Hindenburg agree to appoint Hitler, whom he disliked, as Chancellor. Seldte joined the Nazi Party in April 1933. In August 1933, he became SA Obergruppenführer. He remained Reich Minister of Labor until 1945.
On February 11, the Stahlhelm merged with the DNVP to form the Kampffront Schwarz-Weiß-Rot (Black-White-Red Fighting Front) . This achieved only eight percent in the Reichstag elections of March 5. On March 24, all members of the Kampffront voted for Hitler's Enabling Act .
