Steve Nick
Well-known member
9th Grenadier Regiment -2nd Pomeranian Colberg Grenadier Regiment "Graf Gneisenau".
2nd Army Corps (Pomerania), 3rd Division
This a special piece for me as it has an unusual provenance.
This helmet is one that I’ve had for over 25 years. It has been extensively restored. I was offered the helmet by a fellow collector in Ottawa who being a Great War buff had found the helmet lying on the ground in a German bunker somewhere in France. He hesitated to bring it home because it had been lying on the ground for decades and the top of the shell had rotted out. So, there was a substantial hole in the top of it and parts of the liner were missing. He did find the spike. The rest of the piece was intact and the visor markings validated the fact that the helmet belonged to the 9th Regiment.
I got it for a reasonable price and held onto it not knowing what I was going to do with it. A couple of years later a collector friend from Montreal introduced me to a fellow who had done some restoration work for him and enjoyed the challenge of bringing collectibles back to life. I trusted him with the helmet and about three months later he sent it back. He had managed to rebuild the shell using some resin materials and replaced parts of the damaged liner.
I was thrilled with the result. Yes, it’s a restored helmet. No, it’s not going to command big money. But yes, I saved a piece of history to a unique regiment of the Imperial German Army that I have enjoyed looking at over the years.
Some detail on the helmet itself.
It is marked on the rear visor “2B 1911” meaning 2nd Battalion, issued 1911, as well as “CGR 9” for Colberg Grenadier Regiment #9.
On March 22, 1897 Kaiser Wilhelm II authorized the introduction of the Reichskokarde for the Army to be worn on the right side of the helmet while the Landeskokarde was moved to the left side. At the same time, he introduced a new front plate (Wappen) very similar to the Gardes Eagle front plate for the 7th Prussian Line Grenadier Regiment (2nd West Prussian) replacing the previous pattern which was essentially a Prussian Line Eagle with an intertwined FWR cypher.
The new Garde style Grenadier plate was phased into the other eleven Prussian Grenadier Regiments over the next 18 years. On June 16, 1913 the 9th Regiment received authorization to wear the new Grenadier plate featuring the regiments’ battle honour “Colberg 1807” which it won during the Napoleonic Wars.
Colberg was a Prussian port on the Pomeranian coat that withstood a siege by the French from April to July of 1807. It was the only Prussian fortress to withstand a French siege during the French-Prussian war of 1806-1807.
2nd Army Corps (Pomerania), 3rd Division
This a special piece for me as it has an unusual provenance.
This helmet is one that I’ve had for over 25 years. It has been extensively restored. I was offered the helmet by a fellow collector in Ottawa who being a Great War buff had found the helmet lying on the ground in a German bunker somewhere in France. He hesitated to bring it home because it had been lying on the ground for decades and the top of the shell had rotted out. So, there was a substantial hole in the top of it and parts of the liner were missing. He did find the spike. The rest of the piece was intact and the visor markings validated the fact that the helmet belonged to the 9th Regiment.
I got it for a reasonable price and held onto it not knowing what I was going to do with it. A couple of years later a collector friend from Montreal introduced me to a fellow who had done some restoration work for him and enjoyed the challenge of bringing collectibles back to life. I trusted him with the helmet and about three months later he sent it back. He had managed to rebuild the shell using some resin materials and replaced parts of the damaged liner.
I was thrilled with the result. Yes, it’s a restored helmet. No, it’s not going to command big money. But yes, I saved a piece of history to a unique regiment of the Imperial German Army that I have enjoyed looking at over the years.
Some detail on the helmet itself.
It is marked on the rear visor “2B 1911” meaning 2nd Battalion, issued 1911, as well as “CGR 9” for Colberg Grenadier Regiment #9.
On March 22, 1897 Kaiser Wilhelm II authorized the introduction of the Reichskokarde for the Army to be worn on the right side of the helmet while the Landeskokarde was moved to the left side. At the same time, he introduced a new front plate (Wappen) very similar to the Gardes Eagle front plate for the 7th Prussian Line Grenadier Regiment (2nd West Prussian) replacing the previous pattern which was essentially a Prussian Line Eagle with an intertwined FWR cypher.
The new Garde style Grenadier plate was phased into the other eleven Prussian Grenadier Regiments over the next 18 years. On June 16, 1913 the 9th Regiment received authorization to wear the new Grenadier plate featuring the regiments’ battle honour “Colberg 1807” which it won during the Napoleonic Wars.
Colberg was a Prussian port on the Pomeranian coat that withstood a siege by the French from April to July of 1807. It was the only Prussian fortress to withstand a French siege during the French-Prussian war of 1806-1807.
