Can anyone help fill in some details?

S

smegill

New member
Respected collectors and historians,

My grandfather served in the european theater during WWI in the US army corp of engineers. One of the many artifacts he brought home with him was a Prussian helmet that he claimed he found on the field. After his passing, the helmet came to me and it has been on display in our home ever since. I would love to find out more about it though and came across this fantastic forum. Could anyone tell me anything more about it? Linked here are some pictures I took today: https://goo.gl/photos/TZrz9VTzeZq7KkLM8

From what I have been able to tell, the helmet was made by the Herman Weissenburg & Co., Stuttgart Canstatt -- likely in 1914/1915. Likely made of tin throughout. I have no idea where my grandfather was when he found it so I don't have any way to link it to any particular time or place. What remains of the leather doesn't appear to have any stamps or markings.

Very much appreciated,
Scott
 
Hi Scott,

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for your great question!

You've taken some excellent photographs of an enlisted man's Kurassier Helmet. It would have been worn by an enlisted man in a heavy cavalry regiment. This is the 1916 model, the last version of this type of helmet. It is made of a medium gauge polished steel. The eagle, spike, and metal trim work on the helmet are also steel with a pewter finish. The helmet itself looks to be in fairly good shape and has the typical surface oxidation that these type of helmets seem to get over the years if exposed to moisture and humidity from a basement or attic. The leather liner looks to be missing a few of the "tongue" sections from the liner.

Do you know what Engineer Regiment your Grandfather was in? (Do you have any discharge papers for his service? If you don't have a copy, you can contact the county courthouse recorder's office where he lived, and see if they can provide you a copy of his official discharge paperwork. You'll have to tell them that you are a relative (grandson) when they ask, as they won't give them to anyone except a relative, without having to go through the county veteran's commissioner for approval. You shouldn't have any problem getting a copy, and you won't need anyone's approval to get them since you're his relative).

It's hard to say where he got the helmet from exactly. By the time the U.S. troops entered the war and the first of our soldiers arrived in France in 1917, this type of helmet was not being worn anymore in the front lines, as there were no longer any cavalry charges or cavalry battles at this point of time in the war. If he was in the army of occupation after the Armistice, he may have acquired it from one of the warehouses that our troops came across when they occupied a part of Germany after the Armistice, in the Coblenz area along the Rhine River.

Thanks for sharing this family treasure with us, it's very nice of you to do so!

Best Regards,

Alan
 
Welcome Scott,
What you have here is a 1915 model of the Kurassier (heavy cavalry) spiked helmet, commonly named "lobstertail" helmet.
Kurassier helmets used to bear an eagle plate and other fittings in golden colour metal. From 1915, most spiked helmets and other headgear for enlisted men were produced with "pewter" gray fittings.
A nice souvenir...
Bruno
 
Thank you both so much for the thoughtful replies. That really helps.

This has been a lot of fun for my sons (ages 12, 10 and 7) and I to research and try to piece together its origins. The information you've provided has given us more to go on!

Being a complete novice, is this something you would recommend we try to restore (or more likely have a professional restore)? I know some antiques are better off left in their untampered, aged condition...

Is this something we should insure or is the value fairly nominal?

Thank you again!
Scott
 
Scott,

What a wonderful project to do with your sons! You'll get a lot of opinions none of them the same on restoring the helmet. If it was me I would work on the helmet myself. I would add a few perhaps reproduction parts – chinstrap and cockade's and try to make it look more "displayable". Some collectors will say don't touch it. I just look at it as a family project with a family background. So much for your kids to learn! Something they get involved in and who knows some little idea might just stick in their heads and off they go into life. Tracing the background of your grandfather is a super path. I would not worry about the insurance value. It is not nominal but it is just not worth insuring in my world. Praise God for your grandfather and children.
 
Welcome Scott. I can only add, that the size of the helmet is stamped on the inside trim of the lobster tail so if you see for example 56 then this is size 56 cm. There were thousands of these helmets shipped back to the US after the war and used as War Bond sales prizes. There are pics here on the forum of these and other leather helmets stacked up in a huge Victory pyramid in NYC. If you want to clean the rust off this helmet I would recommend a product called Evaporust. However, you would only apply this to the outside of the helmet and not on either the helmet plate or the inside paint. You can also use some 000 steel wool along with this product to help clean off the rust. BTW, in case you don't realize it the spike top is designed to twist off and thus reduce the profile of the wearer. A spike tip sticking above the trench line made you an easy target for a sniper.
 
Welcome to the forum and researching the history of your helmet is a very nice project.

Regards,

Edwin
 
Terrific! I think we'll give it a go with light steel wool and Evaporust as suggested.

There are a few significant dents in the helmet as well. Should I try to press them back out from the inside?

The size is indeed stamped on the inside. 58 1/2. It's quite small actually. My giant head doesn't have a chance at wearing it but my 12 and 10 year old fit perfectly. That fact really hit home with my boys when they took that as evidence of how young some of the soldiers were who served.

Thanks for letting me know the spike twists off. That will make rust removal a bit easier.

Where might be a good place to procure some replacement parts? I'd love to see it closer to its intended form.

Cheers to you all and thank you for being so welcoming!
 
smegill said:
Where might be a good place to procure some replacement parts? I'd love to see it closer to its intended form.

Cheers to you all and thank you for being so welcoming!
Click to expand...


Ebay is a good source for replacement parts both original and reproduction. Needless to say, origanal parts are more expensive and rare. Several militaria dealers also offer replacement parts such as age of kings http://ageofkingsmilitaria.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards,

Edwin
 
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