M1915 Pickelhaube

**HARRY THE MOLE** · 07-23-2022, 12:19 PM

A recent acquisition was this leather Pickelhaube. My dealer-friend told me that it had remained with the same family since the end of WW1. Now I know all about 'buying the item and not the story', but such a claim adds absolutely nothing to the value of the helmet, so I have no reason to disbelieve it.

The shell and front and back peaks of the helmet are in very solid condition with no cracks evident. The rear peak has a bit of crazing, but certainly nothing to worry about. The liner is a little fragile, and has lost the ends of the tongues. Even the least observant will notice that the chinstrap is a pretty poor quality repro, but this was only put on while taking the pictures.

The helmet is dated 1916 and marked to Infanterie-Regiment 156... The regiment was in 23rd Infantry Brigade which was part of 11th Reserve Division, and saw action at Verdun until the end of February 1916 before moving to the Somme with the Division. British intelligence rated the regiment as: 'second class.'

The last two pictures of the helmet were taken after I fitted it with an aged reproduction chinstrap supplied by WarHats.com. I cleaned the rust off to get the desired effect I was looking for before fitting it, and now the helmet resides on top of a wooden hat stand rather than the 40mm Bofors shell case I was using before.

Cheers,
Steve

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 07-23-2022 12:19 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**TabsTabs1964** · 07-23-2022, 01:35 PM

It's fantastic! Great!

Regards
Santi

**MAP** · 07-24-2022, 03:13 AM

Nice pick up Steve. I like it. And really like that repo strap you added. The condition matches well to the aging and wear of the helmet.

Has the Reichs Korkarde been touched up?

**HARRY THE MOLE** · 07-24-2022, 10:20 AM

by MAP

Nice pick up Steve. I like it. And really like that repo strap you added. The condition matches well to the aging and wear of the helmet.

Has the Reichs Korkarde been touched up?

Probably, but not by me! As is always the case, if the chinstrap is missing - then so will be the cockaden. Of course it could be the case that the helmet was originally brought home with the chinstrap already missing, there are period photographs a victorious allies wearing these helmets without chinstraps.

On a historical note, it is also worth mentioning that at the start of the battle of the Somme, the Pickelhaube was still the only head protection available for many of the front line German soldiers.

Cheers,
Steve