Unusual Prussian Officer ersatz Pickelhaube

[Truce1914]

Hi, I would be grateful for thoughts on this Pickel which I have been offered. The shell is shellacked felt. The liner is a standard-looking officer lining. No separate peaks and no red/green panelling as would be expected. Rounded chin scales, I assume for Train, but with covers, or socks. Ersatz plated spike. I am a bit stumped on this one. Is it a rare circa late 1914 - early 1915 variant, or a thrown-together doctor job from spare parts? The lining is stitched to the shell in a good-quality fashion, the exterior of the stitching covered by the shellac. Thanks for any info / opinion.

 

[Rkinkade]

I for one happen to like it. I have seen a couple similar helmets, but they are scarce. I have an enlisted shellaced felt helmet and a green felt officer helmet. Hard to say when it was assembled, but I suspect it was not from an original manufacturer. It is possible that an officer had a damaged leather helmet and had the hardware assembled on an enlisted felt shell. The front visor trim is not officer type. Is the neck guard officer type? I really appreciate the chin scale and rosette covers! I suspect the helmet originally had a full cover to match the scales. If you look behind the liner sweat band in the rosette area, is there only one hole for the rosette brads, or in addition, are there a couple additional small holes where an enlisted side post pair of brads could have been. The rounded scales could be for field artillery. If the price was fair, I would purchase it.
Ron

 

[Truce1914]

Thank you for your reply. I do not have it to hand, but I did have a good look when I did. There were no additional holes or signs that it had a previous life before its current configuration. Forgot to mention, the shell is absolutely solid, as you would hope it would be, just like the more commonly encountered rigid Bavarian ersatz Pickelhaube. I think my main worry/concern was the lack of the color that you always see inside the peaks on officers Pickels, but then again, it is a one-piece shell, and there are some unusual ersatz items from that period when they were very quickly increasing the size of the army.

 

[ussguppy]

I like it too, I'd probably buy it as well. I hope it works out for you!

There are examples on this forum of laquer over felt and there are great examples of cloth covered chinscales for officers.

 

[Truce1914]

I have been back for another look. I was allowed to take off the front plate. You can see the shell holes; there has been no alteration. It fits on in the standard enlisted man's form with loops and leather wedges but does have a voided crown. I could not remove the spike base; two of the four nuts were frozen solid. The chin scales – I did think the left-hand side looked slightly out of line, but it is just from pulling, making the split pin a little loose. Held in the right place, the chin scales fitted the shell perfectly.

 

[Andy be Prussian]

This is a very interesting pickelhaube. I would have been skeptical of its authenticity, but it’s built very well and not haphazardly. All the furniture has only one set of holes into the shell so that’s a good sign. the shell looks very similar to a one piece cardboard ersatz I possess for enlisted soldiers. The covering on the chin scales is very peculiar, something you’d normally see on cloth covered officers. The issues I see is that the cockades are both for Prussia and there’s no Reichs. Plus the quality of the spike looks weird. It looks to have been painted on. But I do like the theory that this for an officer whose own pickel was damaged and the supplier had a jumbled set of parts thrown together. If you can get it at a good price, I’d pull the trigger

 

[CLOVIS 57]

Hello,
curious helmet.
Perhaps supplied by the army for an officer's deputy appointed to the front.
Perhaps a low-quality “fantasy” Eigentum purchased by a cash-strapped officer as field headgear for the front. .
---The M71 officer's chinstrap covered with beige canvas is the “field” version. Its fastenings seem to be OK.
---The peak and trimmings are made of low-quality “Kriegsmétal.” The tip is made of gold-plated zinc alloy, not gold-plated brass.
---The shell is made of “troop” felt, and the eagle is a Prussian line eagle for the troops. There are never any horizontal rectangular holes for officers, and never any leather-covered studs or bridges for officers. Officer plates during mobilization could be either threaded studs and square nuts, or thin folding lugs.
---In addition (thanks for the close-up), the crown has been “modified” and pierced to “look like an officer's.”

Personally, what is certain is that we are looking at a curiosity.
Three possibilities:
---A composite officer's helmet, assembled by a skilled contemporary craftsman.
---A “fantasy” officer's helmet, bought cheaply in a store after mobilization by an officer with little money.
----A “Kammer” officer's helmet, supplied by the Army to an 0ffizierstellvertreter, newly appointed to the front.

In all three cases, we are speculating. And we remain in suspense, due to the fantasy.

 

[John Josef]

I really appreciate the chin scale and rosette covers! I suspect the helmet originally had a full cover to match the scales. If the price was fair, I would purchase it.
Ron

I also really like the covers; I've always loved the look of those especially when you see a complete covered Helmet.

Could it be that the helmet was made completely covered at one time so the quality of the pieces we now see were ment to be covered and would not have been seen.

Maybe a cost saving from the manufacture.

 

[Truce1914]

Many thanks for the input, guys. Having looked at it again, I am happy that all of the components are definitely period. I have seen officer spikes before which were in white metal, then plated in a gold color, which I think is what we have here. John, it's an interesting idea that it may have been one of those rare, completely covered helmets and then perhaps lost the covering. I am sure a lot suffered that fate shortly after the war when soldiers wanted to see what their souvenir looked like beneath the cloth. My thoughts were, if an officer had his pickelhaube and a standard überzug, with the chin scales down, he would still be showing a lot of shiny metal to make a nice sniper's target, so some chose to have their chin scales covered with cloth.

 

[CLOVIS 57]

These are helmets covered with cotton serge or gabardine. As they are assembled this way by the manufacturer, you cannot remove the cover.
Incidentally, the first one is made of cork.