About the invention and introduction of the Pickelhaube in Prussia

Dear friends,
I have revised my article about the invention of the pickelhaube and merged my research from the newspapers and magazines of the mid-19th century with the official state of research. The content is in principle the same as I always had a look at the official story, but I have tidied up the sources and refer to articles only on articles of military journals.
It feels good that the information from the newspaper articles did not lead to any contradictions with the previous official state of research, but fit very well into the previous narrative and close some gaps in knowledge about the invention of the spiked helmet. In order to guarantee the truth of the contents as well as possible, I have only taken into account information that has been published several times and in different newspapers or books. The official narrative has been taken from several editions of the German scientific magazine for military history „Zeitschrift für Heereskunde“, published by „Deutsche Gesellschaft für Heereskunde e. V.“ (German Society for Army Science)

About the invention and introduction of the Pickelhaube in Prussia

Dear native English speakers,
if you notice any mistakes in the grammar, I would be very happy if you would improve me to make the article better.
Thank you in advance.
 
Very interesting, I learned several things!
You might also remind us the real English translation of "Pickel", because many mistakenly assume that it means "spike"...
 
Thank you John and Bruno, I‘m glad that you like it 🙏
Bruno, I‘m sorry but I my line is busy 🤯I also translated the „Pickel“ as a „spike“, is there something wrong with the name „spiked helmet“?
 
Sandmann said:
Thank you John and Bruno, I‘m glad that you like it 🙏
Bruno, I‘m sorry but I my line is busy 🤯I also translated the „Pickel“ as a „spike“, is there something wrong with the name „spiked helmet“?
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Too funny.... Pickel translated in English is "pimple", and I read many times that the actual original german meaning of "Pickelhaube" was "pimple cap" (in a mocking way)...
 
Ok 😶‍🌫️… I know this terrible translation 😶 Google translates „Pickelhaube“ every time with „pimple hood“ and I feared that I have overlooked such a translation in my article 😵‍💫

Although the helmet is called „Pickelhaube“ in German, its "Pickel" is always called „Spitze“, never „pimple“. A bit confusing 🙃
 
Ah... may I slightly disagree?... I checked the Woerterbuch and found Pickel for 1- pimple and 2- pick (like an ice pick).
Anyway, you know better as a genuine German speaker. I only wanted to remind that the theory for Pickelhaube meaning originally "pimple hat" exists, and has been defended by some authors. I will try to retrieve sources.
Congratulations once again for the very nice article!
 
Bruno you may :)
The confusion is complete. I did not want to doubt that "Pickel" is translated as "pimple". But as I have explained in the article, the term "Pickelhaube" comes from the medieval helmets, which had no spike or pimple (see picture 2 (from the article)). Therefore, the term "Pickel" in this case was not up to the „spike“.
In the reference article from the „Allgemeinen Militär-Zeitung“ No. 63/1841 is originally written: „Sie sind den Pickelhauben aus der Ritterzeit sehr ähnlich….Eigenthümlich ist diesen neuen Helmen bei der Form derer des Mittelalters, daß sie oben auf der Mitte eine kegelförmige Spitze haben..."
(Translation: They are similar to the medieval „Pickelhauben“…Strange for the new helmets, which have the appearance of the Middle Ages, that they have a conical spike at the the middle of the top..)
2B40013F-C3C4-4D83-B2AA-46152E01E02C.pngCFB9EF28-278A-419C-8AC6-4A5A5242CB14.jpeg
 
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Dear friends,
I have now completed the translation of all original source articles I used on my website. Thank you for your interest and your kind comments that pushed me to do this (y):)🙏
 
Sandmann said:
Dear friends,
today I‘d like to share the results of my research about the invention and introduction of the Pickelhaube in Prussia.
Much has been written about it, unfortunately also contradicting or sometimes only poor information were available. That’s why I wanted to find more informations about this period and I found my sources in german newspaper articles from mid-19th century. My idea behind this was that the journalists at the time, due to their knowledge and good networking, surely learned a lot about the new helmet and wrote it down.
As a result, I was able to confirm a lot of knowledge but also get some (at least for me) new informations :)

About the invention and introduction of the Pickelhaube in Prussia

If anybody is interested in my sources, the excerpts from the german articles, please write a PM.
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Danke sehr!
 
Unfortunately I believe that for 20+ years with Kaiser’s Bunker I have incorrectly contributed to the English use of the misunderstood German word “Pickelhaube.”

I was wrong, and admit that I was misguided by early Imperial German helmet references in English. Never in a period German reference book do I recall seeing the word “Pickelhauben.” I completely agree with these two old but very valid observations by Chas and Bruno from 2008.

The original thread: https://www.pickelhaubes.com/xf/threads/the-pimple-hat.3558/

Lost Skeleton said:
I have always regarded Pickelhaube as a colloquialism. Looking through a copy of the 1913 Deutscher Offizier-Verein Armeemarinehaus catalogue, spiked helmets are called, quite simply, helmets (Helm, or the plural, Helme).

The catalogue also features, by name, Tschakos, Pelzmützen, and Tschapkas, but the term, Pickelhaube, appears nowhere.

As for the eBay helmet, it is an eccentric collection of parts, including an infantry style Helm and JzP spike base.

Chas.
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911car said:
I asked Paul von McKeown, a friend of mine in Germany who is bilingual in German and English and owns a superb collection of Pickelhauben . Here is his comment, suggesting that I was half-right:

Haube means literally "bonnet" or headdress of some sort, and pickel is "pimple", or can also be "pick" as in 'Eispickel'. But I think everyone would associate this word with 'spike' or 'Spitze'. Spike in German would be 'Spitze', which is the correct term for that part of the helmet, 'Spitzenhals', 'Spitzenteller', 'Kreuzblatt' would be synonym or related to this. Just looking in my French dictionary, (my English dictionary I gave to a friend in Berlin several years ago!) under 'Picke' (Spitzhacke) = pioche; Pickel = piolet, bouton. But of course, in the official army Jargon of the time nobody said "Pickelhaube", not officially, but simply "Helm" or "Lederhelm" to differenciate from the 'Stahlhelm' of the cuirassiers.

Bruno
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In my opinion, the German nickname "Pickelhaube" and the English term "Spiked Helmet" do not have the same origin. The term "Spiked Helmet" actually refers to the exterior of a helmet with a spike on its top. This term, referring to the new Prussian helmet, I have found in English books already in 1849. On the other hand I couldn’t find the term "Pimple Hood" in relation with Prussian military helmets around that time.
But for me this is quite logical, because in officially German, the new Prussian helmet was simply called "leather helmet" or "metal helmet" (for cuirassiers). The term „Spitze“ never appeared in the Prussian clothing regulations. The spike was officially just called “Beschlag“ (Fitting).

The nickname "Pickelhaube" has its origin, as Robert correctly noted in the post Tony referred to, from the medieval "Beckenhaube". The "Beckenhaube" was worn by the medieval „Landsknechte“ and had a helmet shape similar to the new Prussian M42 helmet (without the spike), which is why a military journalist wrote in 1841, when he saw the guards with the experimental helmets for the 1st time: „Sie sind den Pickelhauben aus der Ritterzeit sehr ähnlich….Eigenthümlich ist diesen neuen Helmen bei der Form derer des Mittelalters, daß sie oben auf der Mitte eine kegelförmige Spitze haben….“. Translated, he wrote that the new helmet looked similar to the medieval "Pickelhaube", but in addition it had a cone-shaped peak on the top.
For me this proves that the English name "Spiked Helmet" is not a translation of the German term "Pickelhaube", but an independent word creation, which describes a helmet with a spike on the top. While the German nickname "Pickelhaube" simply referred to the shape of the M42 helmet (without spike), which was very similar to the medieval helmets of the „Landsknechte“. But in addition, the unofficial name "Pickelhaube" (spiked helmet) became surely popular in Germany so quickly, because it was also a clever play on words. On the one hand, the name had its origins in a medieval helmet without a peak, but on the other hand, the term fit the new helmet so well, because it had a peake on top.
 
Tony without Kaiser said:
Sandy I encourage you to place this information on your website. Your research will soon become the ‘go to’ information base, especially when this Forum and my website fade away. Well done and please keep going. Tony
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Thank you for the idea, I will do it within the next days.
But I hope Kaisersbunker will keep staying online for a long time 🙏
However, you are right, it's sad that we can't find a way to keep such information websites online forever :confused: If your website goes offline, Wikipedia will take that place and that's why I started my website. The German Wikipedia post on Pickelhaubes is full of incorrect information.
 
Sandy
Your scholarship on the history of the German Pickelhaube is truly a dedication to history that is not seen online. I for one, truly appreciate that you have taken the time to translate your research into English for the members of this forum.
Best regards
John
 
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