Have I missed any thing on this helmet.

1

123green

New member
Hi,
Since joining this forum it has allowed me to gain a greater knowledge on what to look for when deciding if a Pickelhaubes is legitimate or not.
I believe I do not have a full understanding yet as the subject is massive.
On this helmet (link provided) I can see the cockade on the right hand side of this helmet does not belong to it and the chin strap is from a M95, the side post are difficult to establish metal or brass. Is there anything else causing a Red flag.
Many Thanks for the help.

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/29659535621...9wgZ62oSGv3sihS91L3O8KIw==|tkp:Bk9SR9by0rOgZA
 
This is a M1915 helmet. The front plate is a Prussian badge but the cockade on the left side is a baden cockade. So it's either u change the front plate to baden or u change the cockade. However, u have to look out for regiment marking inside the helmet. If it is marked to BAXIV then it can only be a baden front plate.
 
I will add to what Amy said with her excellent analysis.

Notice the leather patches inside the forehead area of the helmet? They cover old plugs for a different set of holes that were once in this helmet that were used to attach another wappen or front plate emblem, possibly a Baden wappen. It is probably an arsenal repair work job. But without having the helmet "in-hand" for a personal inspection, it is hard to be 100% certain if the Germans did this, or if someone did this post war.
 
Amy and Allen seem to have covered just about everything the only thing I would add is that the chinstrap looks to be a reproduction. That's not a big deal as we all know that's the first thing to go.
 
Hi everyone, thanks for inputting your knowledge/experience. My question is why would the wappen be changed on a M1915 from say Prussian to Baden. I understand M1895 were converted to M1915 so it would be on these conversion models where I would expect to find plugged holes where a different wappen had been fitted. Thanks
 
There are all kinds of reasons for the extra plugged holes. We can not understand this through looking with "collector eyes". These things were pieces of gear.....a bunch of M95's come in for conversion, all the brass is ripped out, replaced and they are reissued as M15's. Another bunch arrive all beat up after a battle/field use and need repairs, get them fixed and back out for reissue. I can not see the repair depots worrying too much about what wappen used to be on the helmet originally. The main thing is to get a helmet on a soldier's head. From a collector's point of view "back in the day" there was very little information available as to what was proper/regulation. Collectors stuck any wappen on a helmet which did not have one and many did not care about punching in extra holes. I believe if memory serves, Larcade mentions that in the old days of collecting many just wanted to collect wappen not the helmets themselves. Those of us who collect wappen must realize that every piece we have is all that is left of a destroyed pickelhaube.
 
Very interesting to read the reply's, as Roger Waters once said ...it all makes perfect sense. Thanks for helping me understand this complex subject its been a great help.
 
We collectors just have to step back sometimes and realize that once the war started and the German Army expanded in 1915 expediency became the norm. They suffered a lack of equipment for new recruits just as much as the Allies and they cobbled together all sorts of gear to meet the minimum requirements. An example of this is the large numbers of older model helmets that were cut down restitched and reissued.
 
Interesting you mention this Brian, I was reading about older models being cut down and restitched (visor and back piece). I suppose all regulations went out the window in such dire circumstances.
 
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