SkipperJohn
Well-known member
The free city of Bremen adopted the use of the Pickelhaube in 1850. It was a Model 1842 and had a Wappen with a Saxony style star and the Bremen crest mounted on it. One of the earliest examples can be seen in Jan K. Kube's book Militaria, copyright 1990. An officer's helmet of the Bremen Volunteer Infantry can be seen on page 31, photo 161. Bremen had a limited military, and from 1860 until 1866 Bremen fielded only one battalion of Fusiliers. The headgear of this battalion resembled a kepi or shako. In 1866 the Infantrie Regiment Bremen (1 Hanseatisches) Nr. 75 was formed and it was active from 1866 until 1918. When the regiment was formed only the first and second battalions were actually manned by Bremen, the third battalion was Prussian, as were most of the officer's and NCO's. This helmet is stamped with the Kammer Mark IR75 and is dated 1866.
By all indications the helmet has been cut down from an earlier version, probably an M42, but still stands an amazing 11.5 inches tall.
There is some damage on the left side of the helmet that shows a period repair. The leather chin scale mount has been resewn and a few stitches of what appears to be cat gut or rawhide have been used to reinforce the repair. This damage and subsequent repair may be what saved this helmet from being further cut down and made into a Model 1867. The helmet has a small crease but no tears in the leather shell.
The rear spine shows the two standard brads indicative of an M60 or a later Dragoon helmet.
The interior liner has a tear in one place but is otherwise intact. All of the fasteners are the "nut with handle" type except for the one on the neck guard. That one is without handle, but is about three times as thick as one that would be found on a M95.
There is a metal reinforcement plate on the inside of the helmet similar to what would be found on an M95. I don't know if this was added when the helmet was cut down, or when the helmet was repaired by the BKA, or if it is later. It is aged and looks like it has sat in the same location for decades, or centuries. I have never seen an interior metal spike base reinforcement plate on an M60 before.
The Kammer Mark is IR75 and the date is 18@6, which I assume is 1866 because no other date makes sense. The marks are readable, but try as I might, I cannot get a good photograph of them. There is a name inscribed above the IR75. This is the best I can do:
The Wappen is standard Prussian and is stamped out of heavy gauge brass, as compared to an M95. I dislike removing this Wappen, but the one time that I did, I found that the reverse of the Wappen was exactly like the reverse of the Oldenburg Wappen shown on Tony's website. Of course this one doesn't have the Oldenburg crest or the bent clip fasteners, but the stamping is identical. That makes sense because Bremen and Oldenburg are not very far apart and they would have likely shared the same manufacturer.
Now is where it gets sticky. The Kokarde is original and measures 56mm. It is flat instead of convex, which is typical for Bremen, and it has the Hanseatic Maltese cross. The cross is stamped into the Kokarde and not just painted on. The Maltese cross was used by Bremen until 1897 when the Kokarde switched to a white serrated disc with a red ring. There is evidence that this helmet had a 75mm Kokarde at one time, probably before it was cut down. There is absolutely no evidence that a Kokarde ever sat on the left side of this helmet. In 1867 a black and white Prussian Kokarde was to be placed on the right side of the helmet and the Bremen Kokarde was to be moved to the left. There is no indication that this happened. This seems common. Joe has posted a couple of photos on this forum that show Hanseatic Kokarden on the "wrong" side as late as 1915.
I say "Happy Birthday" to my 150 year old friend as he celebrates with an old comrade and Brother in Arms.
John
By all indications the helmet has been cut down from an earlier version, probably an M42, but still stands an amazing 11.5 inches tall.
There is some damage on the left side of the helmet that shows a period repair. The leather chin scale mount has been resewn and a few stitches of what appears to be cat gut or rawhide have been used to reinforce the repair. This damage and subsequent repair may be what saved this helmet from being further cut down and made into a Model 1867. The helmet has a small crease but no tears in the leather shell.
The rear spine shows the two standard brads indicative of an M60 or a later Dragoon helmet.
The interior liner has a tear in one place but is otherwise intact. All of the fasteners are the "nut with handle" type except for the one on the neck guard. That one is without handle, but is about three times as thick as one that would be found on a M95.
There is a metal reinforcement plate on the inside of the helmet similar to what would be found on an M95. I don't know if this was added when the helmet was cut down, or when the helmet was repaired by the BKA, or if it is later. It is aged and looks like it has sat in the same location for decades, or centuries. I have never seen an interior metal spike base reinforcement plate on an M60 before.
The Kammer Mark is IR75 and the date is 18@6, which I assume is 1866 because no other date makes sense. The marks are readable, but try as I might, I cannot get a good photograph of them. There is a name inscribed above the IR75. This is the best I can do:
The Wappen is standard Prussian and is stamped out of heavy gauge brass, as compared to an M95. I dislike removing this Wappen, but the one time that I did, I found that the reverse of the Wappen was exactly like the reverse of the Oldenburg Wappen shown on Tony's website. Of course this one doesn't have the Oldenburg crest or the bent clip fasteners, but the stamping is identical. That makes sense because Bremen and Oldenburg are not very far apart and they would have likely shared the same manufacturer.
Now is where it gets sticky. The Kokarde is original and measures 56mm. It is flat instead of convex, which is typical for Bremen, and it has the Hanseatic Maltese cross. The cross is stamped into the Kokarde and not just painted on. The Maltese cross was used by Bremen until 1897 when the Kokarde switched to a white serrated disc with a red ring. There is evidence that this helmet had a 75mm Kokarde at one time, probably before it was cut down. There is absolutely no evidence that a Kokarde ever sat on the left side of this helmet. In 1867 a black and white Prussian Kokarde was to be placed on the right side of the helmet and the Bremen Kokarde was to be moved to the left. There is no indication that this happened. This seems common. Joe has posted a couple of photos on this forum that show Hanseatic Kokarden on the "wrong" side as late as 1915.
I say "Happy Birthday" to my 150 year old friend as he celebrates with an old comrade and Brother in Arms.
John
