My first helmet

Lots of character and a nice regimental marking. You will need to find four studs for the top spike. Looks like the Wappen has hard a hard life based on the solder repairs on the wings.

What you do is up to you but I would find the studs and then maybe leave it as is. But a better wappen would make it look a lot better......

Cheers.

Peter
 
Hi Gorik,
Welcome and congratulations on your first helmet!
Looks all original (except for the bolts that hold the spike; should be studs), which is very positive, even though it has seen better days. Also nicely marked with the acceptance stamp of J.R. 52 in 1902, for Infanterie Regiment 52, and with 1. C. R.J.R. 52, for 1st company in Reserve Infanterie Regiment 52 (very common for the active regiment to transfer helmets to the reserve regiment stock, so this could be both a pre-war, and a war-time stamp, though I suspect it's the former).
Nice original chinstrap, so often missing. The helmet shell and liner are in good condition.
The Reichkokarde is missing some teeth, and the Wappen (here: the eagle) seems to have solder on the front? As the wings don't seem to be repaired, this might be where a (confusingly named) Landwehr cross was soldered to the eagle when it went over to the reserve regiment, and later fallen off.
In my eyes this is an original helmet that hasn't been doctored with (could this be a veteran bring-back where the spike was removed for convenience of transportation?), so I would be very careful when it comes to replacing parts of this helmet, because it will change from being an all-original historical piece to a "parts helmet", a helmet that has been put together from original parts but never was used as such, and loses a lot of its historical value.
Cleaning is very much a personal taste, I would clean the helmet carefully with a damp cloth (take care not to damage the helmet lacquer) but nothing more.
It would be interesting to see the back of the Wappen, to confirm that the wings are not repaired, which would make the theory of a lost Landwehr cross more plausible.
Regards,
Lars
 
Lars13 said:
Hi Gorik,
Welcome and congratulations on your first helmet!
Looks all original (except for the bolts that hold the spike; should be studs), which is very positive, even though it has seen better days. Also nicely marked with the acceptance stamp of J.R. 52 in 1902, for Infanterie Regiment 52, and with 1. C. R.J.R. 52, for 1st company in Reserve Infanterie Regiment 52 (very common for the active regiment to transfer helmets to the reserve regiment stock, so this could be both a pre-war, and a war-time stamp, though I suspect it's the former).
Nice original chinstrap, so often missing. The helmet shell and liner are in good condition.
The Reichkokarde is missing some teeth, and the Wappen (here: the eagle) seems to have solder on the front? As the wings don't seem to be repaired, this might be where a (confusingly named) Landwehr cross was soldered to the eagle when it went over to the reserve regiment, and later fallen off.
In my eyes this is an original helmet that hasn't been doctored with (could this be a veteran bring-back where the spike was removed for convenience of transportation?), so I would be very careful when it comes to replacing parts of this helmet, because it will change from being an all-original historical piece to a "parts helmet", a helmet that has been put together from original parts but never was used as such, and loses a lot of its historical value.
Cleaning is very much a personal taste, I would clean the helmet carefully with a damp cloth (take care not to damage the helmet lacquer) but nothing more.
It would be interesting to see the back of the Wappen, to confirm that the wings are not repaired, which would make the theory of a lost Landwehr cross more plausible.
Regards,
Lars
Click to expand...
Great observation on the Wappen. I hadn't thought of that. I agree, keep it as original as possible. Would be nice to get a reserve cross back on it though if that is the case.
 
Lars13 said:
Hi Gorik,
Welcome and congratulations on your first helmet!
Looks all original (except for the bolts that hold the spike; should be studs), which is very positive, even though it has seen better days. Also nicely marked with the acceptance stamp of J.R. 52 in 1902, for Infanterie Regiment 52, and with 1. C. R.J.R. 52, for 1st company in Reserve Infanterie Regiment 52 (very common for the active regiment to transfer helmets to the reserve regiment stock, so this could be both a pre-war, and a war-time stamp, though I suspect it's the former).
Nice original chinstrap, so often missing. The helmet shell and liner are in good condition.
The Reichkokarde is missing some teeth, and the Wappen (here: the eagle) seems to have solder on the front? As the wings don't seem to be repaired, this might be where a (confusingly named) Landwehr cross was soldered to the eagle when it went over to the reserve regiment, and later fallen off.
In my eyes this is an original helmet that hasn't been doctored with (could this be a veteran bring-back where the spike was removed for convenience of transportation?), so I would be very careful when it comes to replacing parts of this helmet, because it will change from being an all-original historical piece to a "parts helmet", a helmet that has been put together from original parts but never was used as such, and loses a lot of its historical value.
Cleaning is very much a personal taste, I would clean the helmet carefully with a damp cloth (take care not to damage the helmet lacquer) but nothing more.
It would be interesting to see the back of the Wappen, to confirm that the wings are not repaired, which would make the theory of a lost Landwehr cross more plausible.
Regards,
Lars
Click to expand...
plus 1 , very sound advice and good observations

Welcome to the forum Gorik (y)
 
What a great first helmet! 👏 I would try to source original brass split pins for the spike base, but otherwise it is perfect as-is.
 
Lars13 said:
Hi Gorik,
Welcome and congratulations on your first helmet!
Looks all original (except for the bolts that hold the spike; should be studs), which is very positive, even though it has seen better days. Also nicely marked with the acceptance stamp of J.R. 52 in 1902, for Infanterie Regiment 52, and with 1. C. R.J.R. 52, for 1st company in Reserve Infanterie Regiment 52 (very common for the active regiment to transfer helmets to the reserve regiment stock, so this could be both a pre-war, and a war-time stamp, though I suspect it's the former).
Nice original chinstrap, so often missing. The helmet shell and liner are in good condition.
The Reichkokarde is missing some teeth, and the Wappen (here: the eagle) seems to have solder on the front? As the wings don't seem to be repaired, this might be where a (confusingly named) Landwehr cross was soldered to the eagle when it went over to the reserve regiment, and later fallen off.
In my eyes this is an original helmet that hasn't been doctored with (could this be a veteran bring-back where the spike was removed for convenience of transportation?), so I would be very careful when it comes to replacing parts of this helmet, because it will change from being an all-original historical piece to a "parts helmet", a helmet that has been put together from original parts but never was used as such, and loses a lot of its historical value.
Cleaning is very much a personal taste, I would clean the helmet carefully with a damp cloth (take care not to damage the helmet lacquer) but nothing more.
It would be interesting to see the back of the Wappen, to confirm that the wings are not repaired, which would make the theory of a lost Landwehr cross more plausible.
Regards,
Lars
Click to expand...
Thanks for the great explanation! Great to hear it's an original.
I carefully removed the Wappen and so you can see the back of it.
 

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Gorik said:
I carefully removed the Wappen and so you can see the back of it.
Click to expand...
Hi Gorik,
Very nice image left on the helmet by the Wappen, and no damage to the Wappen either :)
Looking at the location of the solder on your Wappen, and the photo Peter posted, a lost Landwehr cross seems more likely. I would leave it as is, that cross might very well have fallen off during the war.
Regards,
Lars
 
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