I have been carefully reading the trail of responses related to the Guard du Corps officer helmet with eagle top herein posted. As a Pickelhaube Collector since 1962, I still consider myself a novice. Paul Pietsch, a great collector, researcher, scholar and author of the Lexicon Books on the Imperial German Army wrote in 1964, " even after spending a lifetime studying Imperial German military items I still did not know everything. No one does." He also wrote and that he still considered himself a "Putterer" in this field. Before I composed this reply I spoke with a number of other old guys like myself. We were all like minded in issuing the following statement.
My personal experience and research tell me that no one can make a perfect analysis of a piece of headgear by photos alone.
I have had the opportunity to hold and examine over 50 Guard du Corps helmets that were both from Officers and OR. I have owned a number of them too. In my collecting career I have had the opportunity to go to the back rooms of the WGM in Rastatt and the private Cavalry Collection in Vornholz. The variety of helmets, types, models, constructions and design are truly amazing. Please note that there were many makers and models of Garde du Corps Adler "Aufsatz" or eagle tops during its time from the early 1840's to 1918. Truth be known, the Juncker Company in Berlin were still selling Imperial GDC helmets into the 1930's.
Time and space does not allow me to describe everything that should be considered when examining a helmet. Before anything else is explored, the eagle should be weighed. It should be light weight construction as it was worn above the helmet body. The average weight of the Eagle without base nut should be between 450 and 500 grams. To our knowledge eagles were constructed from a number of metals that include:
Real Silver
German Silver
Silvered Brass (versilbert)
English Pewter (versilbert)
I personally have not seen an original Copper metal eagle (my opinion). This would probably be too soft and to heavy to wear.
I have seen "enlisted" quality eagle tops used on officer helmets. Many officers rose through the One Year Volunteer ranks. They upgraded the helmets as their rank and money permitted. I have in my collection such a helmet along with photographs of the soldier as a One Year Enlisted Man and later photos in full officer regalia. The helmet was the same. It went through upgrades with added stepped visor, Cloverleaf Rosettes, Officer cockades and officer eagle base.
At the most recent SOS in Louisville I was shown a Hessen 115 LGIR officer helmet that appeared to be a "parts" helmet. The helmet had extra holes behind the front plate, an EM style front plate, the impression of a round base that preceded the Hessen cross base, and many other inconsistencies. I opined that it was not a genuine piece. BOY WAS I WRONG. The dealer then produced a large box of documents and photographs of the owner of the helmet. The soldier was in a Prussian Aviation unit in 1912 then transferred to the 115th in 1914. He used the same helmet and altered it to meet the requirements of his new unit. One could plainly see in a 1915 photo of the soldier that he is wearing the obviously ALTERED helmet. The helmet was historical and 100% original.
Reproductions and altered helmets are the curse of every hobby. It is so with our hobby too. We should all be very careful in our proclamations. Remember, as Paul Pietsch said, none of us know it all.
All the statements presented in this FORUM are opinions only.
ps1662 by Joe Robinson, on Flickr
