SkipperJohn
Well-known member
This helmet belonged to Artillerie Offizier Jos Kuiffer, 8th Foot Artillery (Rheinisches), XVI Armee Korps, Metz. He was a Fahnrich:
The spike is excessively tall for a Kugelhelm and it has sustained a slight rearward tilt:
The Wappen is held on with screw fasteners and retains almost all of it's original gilt:
The liner is intact:
There are several markings on the inside of the helmet shell including the size, 56 1/2, and a note: "Fur Artillerie Offizier Jos Kuiffer". I am not the best when it comes to German script but the writing is fairly simple to make out, except for the Jos part, so I had a friend of mine in Munich help me with the script issue to make sure it said what I thought it did:
There is also a mark "FR" next to the note:
There is another scribble on the other side of the helmet that my friend said was another "FR":
The script is in pencil and done in very poor handwriting. It may just be a note to the maker of who the helmet was going to and what type of Wappen to put on it, "FR". I doubt that the "FR" stood for Fahnrich since that is only one word in German.
I also have Herr Kuiffer's sword. It's a standard Heer, dove head sword with officer's portapee:
The Fahnrich's pipe is also included:
The pipe is very unusual since it has a Kugelhelm cover, like one would find on a regimental pipe, but the bowl has a picture of the Metz Catherdral, written in French "Cathedrale Metz". Fahnrich Kuiffer must have had an affinity for Elsass Lothringen.
The Troddeln on the pipe is "blue - red - blue" indicating the 8th Company. This seems odd since a foot artillery battalion had four howitzer batteries and two heavy mortar batteries. There was no 8th batterie, or company. Perhaps he just used these colors to represent "8th Regt". There is always something to research. The sword is pictured below with the incorrect Portapee:
John
The spike is excessively tall for a Kugelhelm and it has sustained a slight rearward tilt:
The Wappen is held on with screw fasteners and retains almost all of it's original gilt:
The liner is intact:
There are several markings on the inside of the helmet shell including the size, 56 1/2, and a note: "Fur Artillerie Offizier Jos Kuiffer". I am not the best when it comes to German script but the writing is fairly simple to make out, except for the Jos part, so I had a friend of mine in Munich help me with the script issue to make sure it said what I thought it did:
There is also a mark "FR" next to the note:
There is another scribble on the other side of the helmet that my friend said was another "FR":
The script is in pencil and done in very poor handwriting. It may just be a note to the maker of who the helmet was going to and what type of Wappen to put on it, "FR". I doubt that the "FR" stood for Fahnrich since that is only one word in German.
I also have Herr Kuiffer's sword. It's a standard Heer, dove head sword with officer's portapee:
The Fahnrich's pipe is also included:
The pipe is very unusual since it has a Kugelhelm cover, like one would find on a regimental pipe, but the bowl has a picture of the Metz Catherdral, written in French "Cathedrale Metz". Fahnrich Kuiffer must have had an affinity for Elsass Lothringen.
The Troddeln on the pipe is "blue - red - blue" indicating the 8th Company. This seems odd since a foot artillery battalion had four howitzer batteries and two heavy mortar batteries. There was no 8th batterie, or company. Perhaps he just used these colors to represent "8th Regt". There is always something to research. The sword is pictured below with the incorrect Portapee:
John