Pickelhaube M1895 Prussian Infantry Waterloo

[johnschou]

Hi Forum
An old ladyin my family has cleaned out her basement, and generally I only collect German WWII stuff, but she has given me this Pickelhaube, do anyone have more info, is it a Pickelhaube M1895 Prussian Infantry Waterloo ?
Regards
John

[Chopperman]

That is a very nice gift.
I think you are correct in that it is a model 1895 Helmet. It is a
private purchase officer's helmet for a Reserve Infantry unit.

The lack of a vent in the rear spine, the voided crown in the wappen and the style
of rear visor trim all point to a private purchase helmet. Spike and spike base and
the kocades all show officer. The "waterloo" wappen and the additional cross make it
for one of the I.R. units.

That helmet is a very good candidate for a restoration.

[johnschou]

Thank you very much, although it is a bit mistreated it is nice,
I have some questions:
Do you know what Waterloo refers to and what does FR stands for ?
What does 1813 stands for
What does I.R units stands for ?
Is the helmet from WWI or before

Sorry for my ignorance on these items :-)

The Text on the front is:
Waterloo
FR
Mit Gott
In König und Vaterland
1813

[spandau]

1813 accounts for the Battle of nations at Leipzig during the Napoleonic wars when Prussia took part in the defeat of the French.

Waterloo is the battle honours for the 1815 scrap when the French also lost (sorry to bring that up again to all my French colleagues !)

IR is for Infantry Regiment. FR is for Fredrich William...king of Prussia.....other German is for God, King and Country.....

I think I got it right but some one will correct me otherwise. Hope this helps.

ps I will swap the pickle for german ww2 stuff if your interested. It needs TLC and I would like to restore it.

cheers

Tony

[Chopperman]

Here is a site that can tell you almost anything you want to know about spiked helmets.

Kaiser's Bunker

[johnschou]

Thank you for your elaborate id, I knew about Waterloo, but asked just to be certain
By the way, do you have some ideas to restore it, shall i but some leather grease on the helmet ?
What could be the price for it if I wanted to sell it, I will keep to just to have an idea, there are a lot of different prices on the internet ?

[johnschou]

Great link, there is a lot of "Know-how" :-)

[aicusv]

The helmet appears to be an officers from one of the following; R.I.R. (Reserve Infantry Regiment) 74, 78, 77,164,165. The Bandeau "Waterloo" was awarded to those regiments that been part of the "King's German Legion" that had fought at Waterloo. The Iron Cross denotes the wearer as belonging to a reserve regiment. The condition of the helmet is really not that bad and could be restored with a little time and care.

[johnschou]

Thank you for your additional info, so my question is how old is it, the battle of Waterloo was about 1815, is this that old or is it from the 1900 century ?
How can I maintain it, shold I give the leather some leather grease, as you can see the leather is bended a bit too and the black paint is missing. I wiil certainly not paint it, but how should I maintain it ?
Regards
John

[Glenn66]

I wouldn't advise leather grease. This helmet needs a proper and correct application of shellac finish as it is a quite rare and valuable helmet that deserves a proper restoration. I know of a restorer in Canada that could do the job but it will take some time and not be cheap. If it were me, in order to preserve this piece of history I would take the time and invest the money without question.