East Asian Wappen

Steve Nick

Steve Nick

Well-known member
Here's a Wappen I picked up recently. I've never had the opportunity to pick one of these up and I frankly know very little about them.

I believe it's real, but I'm curious about the method of attachment to what I think would have been the Borfeldt Tropical helmet? Do these long prongs look original?

Interested in your thoughts.

Steve

Imperial Admin Wappen Front.jpgImperial Admin Wappen Reverse.jpg
 
Maybe its the pictures but the details lack a bit and I've never seen those type of attachments before but as always I look to hear what the experts in this field have to say but my gut would have had me putting it down at a show.

I'm rooting for you that its 100%, like you its not my specialty so I'm very curious as well.
 
John Josef said:
Maybe its the pictures but the details lack a bit and I've never seen those type of attachments before but as always I look to hear what the experts in this field have to say but my gut would have had me putting it down at a show.

I'm rooting for you that its 100%, like you its not my specialty so I'm very curious as well.
Click to expand...
It's coming from an estate auction and judging by some of the objects being auctioned it would seem the family had German roots plus there was a selection of objects with an East Asian connection so I suspect a family member at some point was posted there. It was the only military related object on offer.
 
J.LeBrasseur said:
Steve, I like it a lot, IMO a original wappen, very rare indeed, congrats

James
Click to expand...
Thanks for weighing in James. That's good to hear. I've never seen one in the flesh before.

I'll have to spend some time researching the East Asian contingents. It's a topic I haven't bothered with much as in my experience I figured the odds of encountering something like this were pretty long.
 
Hello Steve,
je connais la réponse, il s'agit des bonnes fixations du Reichsadler pour le casque spécial du BAO de l'Asie du Sud-Est. Je ferai les photos en rentrant de vacances et aussi la traduction en anglais.(que je ne peux pas faire sur mon GMS.
 
Last edited:
Clovis:

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post.

I've never seen one of these in the flesh and over the years I've seen a lot of Pickelhaubes, so I knew it had to be rare.

I'm eager to receive any information you have on this piece. I was always fascinated by the German campaign waged in German East Africa under von Lettow Vorbeck. Would have made for a terrific war movie if they'd been on the other side. :rolleyes:
 
As an update to my initial post when I hadn’t yet picked up the Wappen from the auction house, I’ve since been able to spend some time cleaning up the verdigris and other foreign matter on the Wappen. Although not finished I think it’s much improved. I was very careful to not remove any of the gilt finish using part of a deer antler to scrape off most of the contaminants. (A tip I got from my Japanese sword collector friends).

I’ve also done some research on this Wappen and have learned that this particular configuration of the “Reichs Adler” was only used on one specific variety of Tropenhelm, namely the Borfeldt helmet introduced in 1900. The Borfeldt helmet featured a set of loops on the front of the shell into which the Prongs of the Wappen were passed. The prongs appear to be made of a tempered brass which isn’t easily bent. I assume they provide enough tension to ensure that the Wappen doesn’t easily fall out.

Based on this specific application, I believe this Wappen configuration must be a bit of a rarity these days.

This is all new information to me and old information to some of you here. For the benefit of those not “in the know” I thought I’d share.

Wappen 1st Cleaning Obverse Re-Sized.jpgWappen 1st Cleaning Reverse Re-Sized.jpg20250825_141643 Re-Sized.jpg
 
Great looking eagle. IMO completely original. More typically you see the flat prongs, but I have also seen these mounted with improvised wire like the one you have here. On the last photo you can see the wire is attached at the solder then sweep up before continuing out. This is done intentionally to allow for spacing of the loops on the helmet front. Great piece, congrats on the find. I love the clean up as well.

Cheers
Jay
 
Jay:

Thank you for the positive reactions. Much appreciated.

One question.

I assume that for this Reichs Adler there is only one version. So there is no distinction between officer and OR's?
 
That could be an officers, looks shiny enough. I have several you can see below. The ones on the left and right are for sure off of helmets that are not officers. The two in the center I believe to be officers. The photo doesn’t do it justice since I just popped them off and took the shot on my couch rather than the Photo Booth. The top one has more detail to me and finely gilded. The prongs on the back are more finely made as well. The bottom one had a fire gilding at one time.

There was no “officers quality” model 1900 sun helmet though. The 1900 Pickelhaube and the 1904 Sun helmet both had officers versions. They were nicer quality and had silk liners. The Pickelhaube had some other cool features only present on the officers.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7462.jpeg
    IMG_7462.jpeg
    821 KB · Views: 20
  • IMG_7461.jpeg
    IMG_7461.jpeg
    648 KB · Views: 20
Steve Nick said:
As an update to my initial post when I hadn’t yet picked up the Wappen from the auction house, I’ve since been able to spend some time cleaning up the verdigris and other foreign matter on the Wappen. Although not finished I think it’s much improved. I was very careful to not remove any of the gilt finish using part of a deer antler to scrape off most of the contaminants. (A tip I got from my Japanese sword collector friends).

I’ve also done some research on this Wappen and have learned that this particular configuration of the “Reichs Adler” was only used on one specific variety of Tropenhelm, namely the Borfeldt helmet introduced in 1900. The Borfeldt helmet featured a set of loops on the front of the shell into which the Prongs of the Wappen were passed. The prongs appear to be made of a tempered brass which isn’t easily bent. I assume they provide enough tension to ensure that the Wappen doesn’t easily fall out.

Based on this specific application, I believe this Wappen configuration must be a bit of a rarity these days.

This is all new information to me and old information to some of you here. For the benefit of those not “in the know” I thought I’d share.

View attachment 65535View attachment 65536View attachment 65537
Click to expand...
And you did very well!
Excellent cleaning job. It doesn't even look like the same Adler from the beginning of this thread. You managed to clean it without distorting it or removing the patina.
Well done.
Zeb
 
GreatWarGreatMilitaria said:
That could be an officers, looks shiny enough. I have several you can see below. The ones on the left and right are for sure off of helmets that are not officers. The two in the center I believe to be officers. The photo doesn’t do it justice since I just popped them off and took the shot on my couch rather than the Photo Booth. The top one has more detail to me and finely gilded. The prongs on the back are more finely made as well. The bottom one had a fire gilding at one time.

There was no “officers quality” model 1900 sun helmet though. The 1900 Pickelhaube and the 1904 Sun helmet both had officers versions. They were nicer quality and had silk liners. The Pickelhaube had some other cool features only present on the officers.
Click to expand...
Interesting. If I read you correctly, there was no difference in the dies used for the OR's and the Officer versions. Only the final finish ie. the gilt finish on the officers as opposed to brass for OR's?

Having this one "in-hand" it is definitely a "cut above" in terms of the gilt finish. Hence my question re. the OR's version.. I couldn't imagine the Government providing this quality level to the ranks.

Thanks for the input. This has been educational for me.
 
Zebedeus said:
And you did very well!
Excellent cleaning job. It doesn't even look like the same Adler from the beginning of this thread. You managed to clean it without distorting it or removing the patina.
Well done.
Zeb
Click to expand...
Zeb:

Thanks.

It took a few days of picking away with the aid of a Lapidary magnifier and the antler horn (will not scratch the metal) along with some soap and water and a tooth brush. Quite pleased with the way it has turned out.
 
I agree, you did excellent on the cleaning, a professional job for sure!

I took a look this morning at all the eagles. They all vary slightly, there were for sure a number of different dies. The one at the top on my photo of 4 has for sure the most amount of detail though. All details looks more crisp than the other officers and significantly more detailed than the other 2. Weather this was from an early strike or a private officers purchase, who knows?
 
Steve Nick said:
Interesting. If I read you correctly, there was no difference in the dies used for the OR's and the Officer versions. Only the final finish ie. the gilt finish on the officers as opposed to brass for OR's?

Having this one "in-hand" it is definitely a "cut above" in terms of the gilt finish. Hence my question re. the OR's version.. I couldn't imagine the Government providing this quality level to the ranks.

Thanks for the input. This has been educational for me.
Click to expand...
Yes, you’ve got it right — the dies were generally the same for both OR’s and Officer versions, but the main difference came down to the finish and attention to detail. Officer pieces usually received a higher-quality gilt finish, which often makes them stand out a bit more when you have them in hand.


It sounds like yours is a great example of that. Glad the discussion has been useful — these little details are always fascinating to dig into!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top