M1895 Prussian Pickelhaube, lacquered ersatz

[Glenn66]

Well the Dragoon 'haube arrived 2 days ago and last night I was able to smuggle it into the house and unpack it before the wife got home

No photos for the foreseeable but I can add that the wappen is fixed on threaded posts which may indicate an M1871 model if the reference made on Kaiser's Bunker is correct. Additionally, the spike only has 2 ventilation holes compared to the 6 holes introduced with the later 1887 model. The chinscales are fixed to the shell via bent pins. Am I correct in thinking its an 1871 model?

[ww1czechlegion]

Hi Glenn,

Congrats again on the fine helmet score!

I previously mentioned:

I would say the helmet dates from the mid to late 1880's time period up until 22nd of March 1897 when they started wearing 2-kokardes (national colors + state color kokardes).

The leather liner is an officer type liner option that one could order when purchasing the required service helmet by an officer. Usually one sees this type of liner on the older officer helmets.

Everything I see from the auction pictures show the helmet to be an Officer Helmet, and Not an Enlisted Ranks Helmet.

For me the officer helmets are harder to date than enlisted pattern helmets. Tony does a great job showing & explaining the different model & time periods for the Enlisted Rank Helmets on his fantastic web site. At the current moment my web browser is unable to open his website to look at what you are referring to in the number of holes in a spike neck (for enlisted rank helmets).

The two hole spike is appropriate for an Officer Helmet from the above stated time period, and up through WW1. Sometimes a 4-hole spike is seen on officer helmets. The spike on your new helmet is an officer spike. The pearlring around the lower neck of your spike base is for an Officer with the egg and dart pattern. It is sometimes also seen on private purchase helmets that are not officer helmets (all officer helmets were private purchase. One-year volunteer helmets were private purchase as well, and could have certain characteristics of an officer helmet). The spike itself also has the 2-parallel lines around the top removeable portion of the spike as seen in the photos. These lines were only used on Officer spikes.

The leather liner in your new helmet is actually an officer's style liner that is often times seen on these pre-1900 era officer helmets.

I hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Alan

[Glenn66]

Thanks for the advice Alan!

Now that I have 2 'haubes I'm thinking it time to invest in some reference material. I wonder if there is a single reference book that could be considered a 'bible' in the Pickelhaube fraternity in a similar vein to Ken Niewiarowicz's 'German Combat Helmets 1933-1945'?

[stuka f]

That is a descision you are about to regret! Those books doesn't only work as reference, but also as a catalogue,for all pickels you will want to order!(lol!)
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[Glenn66]

I'm sure you're right Kris, but I still want such a book anyway...any suggestions?

By the way, I was able to quickly snap the label of the hat box the Dragoon lid came in. I will have to open a new thread for this helmet I think...

[stuka f]

I'm sure you're right Kris, but I still want such a book anyway...any suggestions?

..........

Not realy, I had so much, and many new appeard....
Pickelhaubes.Com is my best reference.
cheers
|<ris

[ww1czechlegion]

Great Label inside the helmet storage case!

I wonder if there is a single reference book that could be considered a 'bible' in the Pickelhaube fraternity in a similar vein to Ken Niewiarowicz's 'German Combat Helmets 1933-1945'?

Unfortunately not.

There are quite a number of excellent reference works available that are still in print. There's a great list of them in a special section of the pickelhaubes.com forum: Pickelhaubes.Com The forum and members there are also an incredible wealth of knowledge willing to help out.

For Officer Helmets I typically use the excellent 2-volume "Deutsche Offiziershelme auf der Kaiserzeit 1870-1918" Band I & II (volume I & II). I also use three of Jim Turinetti's excellent works on a regular basis: "Imperial German Headgear Field Guide" (1888-1914), "A Guide to Collecting the Headgear of the 1914 German Army", and "Pricing Guide for Headgear of the Imperial German Army Circa 1914". Jim's books are excellent for understanding what can often times for newcomers be a confusing use of brass and silver fittings on helmets, as well as explaining how other parts are configured on helmets. I also use the Larcade Books Volume I & II "Casques A Pointe". The 2-volumes of "Pickelhauben" by Randy Trawnik & Tony Cowan of Texas are tops as well. There are some excellent works by Verlag Militaria as well that are huge coffee table style books with incredible color photos. There are several other good works, but I'll simply leave it at this for a start, as they're listed on the referenced website above.

If I were to recommend just 1-book to start out, I would buy Jim Turinetti's "A Collecting Guide to Headgear of the 1914 German Army". That one will set you straight in the fittings configurations of the various helmets, and get you on a great start in collecting.

Best Regards,

Alan

[Glenn66]

Link to the new 'haube thread https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/imper...3/#post1429205

[Wagriff]

Randy Trawnik & Tony Cowan's 2 volumes of "Spiked Helmets Of Imperial Germany" are pretty decent and have many photos. And an older one you might want to look into could be Dr Eric J. Johansson's book "Pickelhauben"

[Glenn66]

My wife had a product photo shoot in the studio today so before she broke down the setup I snuck in a quick shot of the M95 and EK2. Amazing what a difference a decent setup and lighting can do!