help on pickelhaube

[Overthetop]

hi all,.i need some help on this,..is it prussian/bavarian etc ,recent purchase at local gun show,.any help much appretiated

si

[Glenn66]

I can tell you it is an officer's private purchase helmet due to the voided crown on the wappen, the silk cap liner and the coloured interior of the visors. The flat chinscales represent foot troops. The cruciform spike base indicates an approximate year of use but I cannot recall at the minute what that might be. A quick search through Kaiser's Bunker Pickelhaube Guide will help you there. Tony's site might also assist with the wappen identification which I suspect might be Prussian.

A very nice helmet!

[kirby]

I owned this Pickelhaub a few years ago. I was told this one was for a Prussian Customs Official. With the different spike yours must be for another Prussian Official or Police officer.

[Overthetop]

thanks glenn,much appretiated,.thnks for the link

silas

[stuka f]

Sorry to say but the spike those not belong on that helmet.
And not sure about the plate too.
The body of the helmet is ment to be a officer.
The plate is indeed for customs.
But the spike is a enlisted men's spike for dragoons.
A officers spike should have a perled crown on the base of the spike. Anyway you can see by the impression in the leather that it had a different form of spike.

[Overthetop]

oh it belong there my friend

[stuka f]

As you wish!
A other clue is; spikes allways had a reenforcement plate at the inside of the helmet.
I see yours is missing, that generaly means the helmet had been messed with.
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[Glenn66]

Upon closer inspection I can see the marks on the crown where the original spike base resided. As long as the price reflected this, no real harm done.

[stuka f]

Of course.
But it must have been real cheap in that case, because the more I look at it the more features I see...
The inside of the front and rear part (or visor and neck portection) should be coloured.
Green in front and red at the back; here we see no color at the front part and red for the rear is ok , but it has a metal reinforcement like visor's have...
So it certainly is no military issued helmet. This is generaly seen on firemens haube.
And the visor part not been coloured on the inside makes me wunder if it has been replaced at some stage....
Realy need better pic's and pic's from the inside, behind the liner.
Also the metal back spine reinforcing the haube seems painted, ....or so; and does not match with the patine of the other metal parts of the helmet...

[Chopperman]

I'm not really a helmet guy but I did notice the rear spine and the reinforcing plate on
the inside of the helmet. Once Kris pointed out the lines where the original base was
changed, they became pretty obvious.

It may not be a "correct" helmet but if the price was cheap enough, it does make
for a good looking display piece.