Braunschweig IR 92 Officer’s Pickelhaube

[Aldo]

Hello Gentlemen, I was hoping for some guidance on this Pickelhaube. This is far from my area of collecting but I've been looking to add a nice Pickelhaube to my headgear collection. The Braunschweig IR 92 Totenkopf is intriguing to me since I collect many types of skulls. Does the Pickelhaube look like it retains all of it's original parts ? Does the TK look original to the helmet or something added on for enhancement ? The helmet looks good to my eyes but as I said not my area of expertise. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Regards, Al

[Chopperman]

Hi Aldo,
To me, This looks like a perfectly fine example. However because the IR92
helms are so coveted, I would really suggest that you send a PM to Alan
for a more knowledgeable opinion.

Greg

[ww1czechlegion]

Hi Greg,

I am sorry to disappoint you with your very nice vote of confidence for me with thinking that I know about these Braunschweig IR 92 officer skulls and how to tell if they are original or not. I honestly have no knowledge as to how to tell an original one from a reproduction skull.

The eagle has the "Fuerst" banner on it which it should have. I was thinking the start and end of the scroll portion of the "Mit Gott fur Fuerst und Vaterland..." banner should have the style of the starting and ending portion of the scroll looking a bit different than on this particular wappen eagle. I'll have to compare it to photos of originals in my reference books. I will also look at my 94th & 95th IR helmets and remember how the scroll looks on my helmet wappens.

The person to ask about this skull is Tony, from the Kaiser's Bunker website. I believe that he will be able to look at the photos provided here and tell you whether or not the skull is original or a reproduction.

I'll also see if I can simply shoot a photo or two from a reference book, and show here what a known original example should look like with the skull and the eagle wappen. I'll try to post that sometime later today.

Best Wishes,

Alan

[Aldo]

Hello Alan, thank you for your input on this. Anything you can post would be helpful.

Regards, Al

[MAP]

I agree with Alan. With a Haub like this, Tony (and maybe a few others ) would be the right path to pursue.

I do hope it is real. With the exception of the chipped lacquer, it appears to be in excellent condition.

[Chopperman]

Thanks Alan for taking a look.

[Aldo]

Well thank you for you efforts Gentlemen but now I'm having doubts about the TK. Although it looks legitimate to me, it doesn't seen to conform to the known types. One example is on the Kaiser's Bunker website below. It features a skull with solid eye sockets and nasal cavity. Unfortunately according to his website Tony is not accepting emails any longer so I can't ask him if this is an actual variant.

Infanterie-Regt. Nr.92 Senior NCO Pickelhaube

Here are a few examples courtesy of Kris, none of which match either. The one I posted has cutout eyes and solid nasal cavity.

Credit: stuka f

Compare to the one posted