Orginal WW1 Pickelhaube?

**AndyM35** · 08-03-2020, 11:25 PM

Hi Toot,

Ersatz pieces of equipment were manufactured due to a shortage of raw materials such as leather and were in use just prior to the introduction of the steel helmet in 1916. Pickelhaubes were much easier to press than leather spiked helmets which were of multi piece construction.

Not sure in terms of how much money a felt example would bring however they are a little more scarce not being in production for the same amount of time as leather examples so may command a slightly higher price.

Andy

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 08-03-2020 11:25 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**ShapedSteel** · 08-07-2020, 11:46 PM

by AndyM35

Hi Lucas,

You can make your own, or get some on eBay but the ones I like best and want to get are those sold by the dealer on Virtual Grenadier. I won't post the link but just look under stands. I've always thought that terrariums were designed to create a humid environment for plants to grow in. Personally I would want some type of air flow. Should be fine displayed without being in outside a glass container but you could also do a little research by looking at some advice from museums.

Here's a few links: Preservation of historic leather, including saddlery - MGNSW

Leather

The AR sounds like an issue stamp. Do you have a photo?

Andy

Sorry for the late response! Here's an image of the stamp, it's quite hard to read especially in the photo. But I'd be happy if someone could tell me what it meant

I also took a photo of these black spots when I was cleaning the inside of little spider webs. I rubbed over them with a cotton swab but they do not stick out or anything. I was wondering if this was possibly some sort of mold that I'd have to clean or are they just simple black spot discolorations?

Best regards,
Lucas

**AndyM35** · 08-08-2020, 12:59 AM

Hi Lucas,

I believe the stamps to be a regimental marking. From my references A.R would stand for Artilerrie Regiment. Looks like the numerals read as 31?

Hard to say if the mould is black mould or not but to me it looks like ink or dye of some description. I think the best course of action at this stage would be to leave it and just observe it from time to time to see if there is any progression. If so, you could look at treating it. But mould generally shouldn’t be an issue unless the humidity surpasses around 66%. I would also suggest wearing gloves when handling any Militaria as the oils and acids on human fingers can instigate mould growth.

As for cleaning, there is really no need unless there it is something that could cause issues with the preservation of the item. Just a personal opinion, but I like to leave the dust, spider webs and bugs as it’s all part of the helmets history. Once you touch that the item is no longer in its original as found state.

Andy

**paul kennedy** · 08-08-2020, 12:32 PM

Shouldn't it would have a ball on top as opposed to a spike?

**AndyM35** · 08-08-2020, 10:37 PM

The information I found for the stamp was from pickelhauben.net. You could but right and it might be the case that the spike on the op’s post was swapped as they are designed to be removed. Hopefully one of the Pickelhaube experts can reply.

**AndyM35** · 08-09-2020, 04:05 AM

Paul, I’ve spoken with an advanced Pickelhaube collector and he said that all wore the ball top with the exception of Bavaria up until 1916. To quote him, “As just another example of Bavaria demonstrating their non-conformist nature, they didn't adopt the ball top helmet for artillery until March of 1916. Prior to that they wore a spike helmet making Bavarian artillery helmets hard to distinguish from Infantry if there are no Depot stamps”. So perhaps that explains it? Looks like an AR to me but who knows.

We see a lot of examples of haubes today that are made up of parts from different helmets which muddies the waters even further. All interesting stuff though.

Andy

**paul kennedy** · 08-09-2020, 07:51 AM

That is true for Bavaria, but this pickelhaube has a Prussian plate on it. The List of Imperial German Artillery Regiments lists the 31st Field Artillery (1st Alsatian) as garrisoned in Hagenau, and part of the XXI Army Corps.

Either way, it's a nice piece of headgerar.

**AndyM35** · 08-09-2020, 08:40 AM

Perhaps that’s been added too! As I said, things are swapped on these things all the time. I guess we’ll never really know.

**ShapedSteel** · 08-09-2020, 09:29 AM

Thank you all for the replies!

I have seen multiple Pickelhaubes with multiple stamps so I was wondering if Pickelhaubes got factory stamps and if that could be the stamp on mine? Also, I was wondering if Pickelhaubes got reissued?
Maybe the stamp doesn’t even say “AR 31” it’s very much faded, I can’t put it under a magnifying glass at the moment as I am away from home for a couple weeks.
Looking forward to your responses.

(Ps: I normally don’t “clean” my helmets either but I read that dead bugs and spiderwebs could be harmful to the leather, don’t know how true that is but I wasn’t taking any chances haha)

Lucas