Feldgrau Fall update #1 Ersatz cloth-covered Filzhelm

[Tony without Kaiser]

These are not common in any condition, but look at the condition! :happy7:

This is not to be confused with one of the 20.000 cork helmets produced by Firma Ludwig Bortfeldt in Bremen by the Preußen War Ministry in October 1914. This is the scarce Ersatz Model 1895 Preußen cloth-covered Filzhelme (felt helmet).

Link to the photos and text etc etc as per normal here>>> http://www.kaisersbunker.com/feldgrau/helmets/fgh44.htm

 

[Wyliecoyote]

ghee, ghee ghee, =P~

uh, . . . . . . . . . :love10:

What a fantastic helm! And just look at the condition too, what a find Tony!

ccasion5:

 

[RoyA]

WOW! Superlative condition!

 

[ErsatzBoy]

Hard helmet to find... yours is the best condition I have seen of this type!

Very nice!!

Pete

 

[Carlson]

Tony:

How do you do this?

If you would simply open the museum, I'd drive to Canada and pay to see it.

Wow.

David

 

[b.loree]

Another excellent rare helmet T. Once again,....when are we going to be able to purchase a detailed CD showing the entire Schnurr Imperial German headdress collection?? Consequently, no one has to drive and you do not have to open up a museum. Brian

 

[J.LeBrasseur]

Great Helmet Tony!

Congrats

James

 

[hamtaro]

Great haube, Tony, and I always wonder, where on earth did you ALWAYS managed to get those haubes??


WOW
BB

 

[Tony without Kaiser]

I'm pleased that you guys enjoyed this piece. :sunny: I have to say, it really is a gem; a real a treat to dissect in person. After examination, my friends such as Roy, Chas, Peter, have all commented that it is one of the nicest (and rarest) examples of an Ersatz helmet they have seen.

I suspect that this pattern of Ersatz Pickelhaube, with the sewn edging, (probably observed in a museum somewhere) was the "inspiration" for the many replica felt Tschakos and Tschapkas with the sewn leather edging that some enterprising jerk made a few years back which occasionally surface like a bad penny.

 

[Rob]

Hi there, i'm new to the forum, i was browsing through and i came across your helmet. Could you tell me are these type rare as i have got one in my loft, not in the same condition as yours, but exactly the same type. I would be interested in approx value.

Rob 8)

 

[joerookery]

Rob,
Do you have a picture? Approx. value is tough at best.

 

[Rob]

check your emails joe i sent the pictures to you direct ,i will soon put them on the forum for all to see but i have not had time to work out
how yet cheers,Rob

 

[Rob]

Please see below images of my helmet as i would welcome anybody to give me some idea of its value. Cheers Rob

 

[zipperheads9]

Nice piece Tony .
Mark

 

[joerookery]

Rob sent me a picture which I finally got to. I love Tony's helmet, but Rob's questions made me dig deeper. The more I learn the more I realize I do not know. In the ersatz world. I now believe that the words cloth covered helmets provides a better descriptor for a division than Kraus used when he said Korkhelmes. Tony shows an example of a cloth covered felt helmet. On his excellent web site, he commented that cork helmets were cloth covered inside and out with no trim. This was different from what I thought so I looked. The can of worms opened up.
This example from the Trawnik collection is cloth covered both in and out and has no trim.

It has an odd chin strap and a rosette.

This next example is cloth over cork. This time, there are two different types of trim and no cloth cover on the inside.

This next example is cloth over fiber.
It has no spine unlike the one above.

So Rob. I don't even know what yours is made of! It appears as though the spike has been removed. The support ring placed on the wrong side of the helmet and some sort of green backing placed in of the the top of the helmet.

I am not certain that is a bullet hole in the visor. Many helmets were nailed onto a wall. Perhaps it is a nail hole? Cloth covered helmets are not common. They never appear in the shape of Tony's helmet. It just goes to show how everyone should ask questions, because it might just be a reason for someone to do some research

 

[Tony without Kaiser]

One thing to note Joe, is that cork helmets have separately sewn visors like a standard Pickelhaube. Cloth covered felt helmets, like any Ersatz felt helmet, are made from one piece.

The center one is very interesting, first time I have seen a metal visor on one of those, or a rear Ersatz leather trim on the back visor. It almost looks like a cloth covered felt helmet that has been repaired with two visors? The one you describe as "cloth over fiber" looks to be cloth covered felt like mine.

 

[Rob]

Hi Joe its good to here from you again, i've read with intrest your comments about my picklehaube and you are dead right that plate should be on the inside and i have never really noticed it before im told by my elders that as a child i liked to take things apart and must have put it back wrong also your knowledge of poeple hanging them up with nails could also be true but i was told it was a bullet hole many years ago and believed it ever since,as for what it is made of on close inspection it appears to be made from hardend green coloured felt and very sturdy too. Just for your piece of mind and any risk of confusement i can guarantee this helmet is 100% the real thing nothing has been restored or replaced and it was handed down from my great grandfather and i do hope this helps your already amazing knowledge in this field.I will however inform you that i have thought of loaning it to a museum but at the same time i am considering a purchase offer for it and i am still thinking it over.
Thanks ever so much for the information you've given me so far .Rob. :-k