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A trove of helmets dating from the First and Second World Wars has been discovered by archaeologists in Poland.
Road-construction workers found more than 50 helmets lying just beneath the surface on Koszarowa Street in the city of Wrocław.
The discovery was announced by Wrocław University’s Institute of Archaeology, one of whose buildings is just metres away from Koszarowa Street.
During the final year of the war, the city, then known as Breslau, was besieged by Soviet forces. Hitler declared the city a Festung – or fortress – and ordered German defenders to fight for every inch of ground.
The helmets were found on the site of a former military barracks of the German Army’s 8th Signal Battalion. It was most likely destroyed towards the end of the siege.
According to the Institute’s archaeologists, who investigated the find, the helmets were most likely kept in storage for use in an emergency, such as during an air raid.
The diverse collection includes German models M35 and M42, which were manufactured both before and during the Second World War, as well as other German helmets from the First World War, and some of Polish and Soviet design.
‘The discovery is particularly interesting due to the number of helmets found in such a small area,’ said archaeologist Dr Paweł Duma.
‘It serves as a vivid reminder of the much-discussed events of 1945 – both the end of the Second World War and the fall of Festung Breslau.’
