Helme M/1860 “Königgrätz 1866”

[Oldenburg]

Dear forum members,

In the last few monthsI was able to buy three M/60 helmets from a renowned collection for my “Prussian Collection”.
I will present them all in detail piece by piece here in the community in the next few weeks!

An army historian from Choslovakia, a specialist for the battle of Skalitz (28.6.1866) has bequeathed the helmets to me. Tomas Vondryska works as a curator in the Bozena-Nemcova museum and has published a wonderful catalogue about the permanent exhibition “Battle of Skalitz” present there!

The catalogue is provided with an excellent photo quality and shows a significant abundance of battlefield finds of both warring parties, including Pickelhauben M/60 from the theatre of war (see excerpts as attachment). It is also available on eBay!

The three M/1860s I was able to acquire are battlefield finds from the “Battle of Königgrätz on 3.7.1866”. They were collected directly by the population of the time after the battle. This was common practice, because the rural population collected everything that could be found. Thus, a lot has been handed down in Bohemia up to the present day and has been collected by collectors for decades!

Best regards

Frank

 

[Oldenburg]

Helme 1860

 

[Sandmann]

Congratulations Frank, I‘m looking forward to read your posts about your new helmets

 

[Oldenburg]

I will start with the helmet M/60 from the “4th Pomeranian infantry Regiment No. 21”.

Before we talk about the adjustment of the original M/57 helmet to the 1860 model, a short version from the regimental history, which shows what the wearer of the helmet experienced during the battle of Königgrätz.

Around 12 noon, the I. Battalion of IR 21 received orders to support Regiments 31, 61 an 71 in the “Sadowa Forest”. This forest, overgrown with dense undergrowth, came under massive fire from strong artillery of the 3rd an 10th Austrian Corps.

The I. Battalion IR 21 entered the forest and immediately received terrible casualties from the Austrian artillery. In the dense undergrowth of the forest, the 2nd and 3rd Companies, among others, got into disorder and suffered heavy losses. Further on, at the edge of the forest, parts of the I. Battalion stood with about 60 men, who had to repel attacking Austrian cavalry up to a distance of 100 - 200 metres. The main focus here was the defence of the battailon flag! Of the flag section alone, 2 men fell and 2 were wounded.

This helmet from the 3rd Company of IR 21 must have come from this battle, in the Sadowa forest. As a battlefield find that was left lying around, it has survived to the present day and was part of a Bohemian collection in recent decades!

The followings photos show the uncleaNed condition of the modified M/60 after it arrived in my collection, before I began to care for the helmet.
The shots here should make it clear to us how the reduction of the helmet bell to the 1860 model was carried out on the Prussian side.

Interesting here are the leather wedges visibly sewn inside the helmet to stabilise the bell and protect it from moisture.

Note the leather wedges still present on the eagle`s screw thread! The wedges, now hardened after more than 160 years, are supposed to cover the two holes made superfluous by the adjustment, so that no water can penetrate in case of rain.

The old 13cm high eagle was then provided with the “bandeau” introduced on 16 May 1861. Note the soldered joints on the back of the eagle, which were used to attach the bandeau.

Announcement for Sandy´s list of masses is pending….

I hope the valued forum members enjoy this post,

Best regards

Frank

 

[Oldenburg]

Helm IR 21, 3. Company

 

[Oldenburg]

Helm IR 21

 

[Sandmann]

Nice helmet with great history Frank. Thank you for the very informative post and for the measurements

 

[KAGGR#1]

Helm IR 21, 3. Company

Excellent helmet and it comes with a great story
I look forward to other posts from you .
Please tell me how you are able to I D the helmet to I R 21 ?
Thanks
Steve

 

[KAGGR#1]

As a point of interest
this pole and pole top were at the war of 1866
note the silver plaque at the base of the 1813 Iron Cross pole top
2 Garde Regt zu Fuss / I Batl
Steve

 

[Oldenburg]

Helm IR 21

Excellent helmet and it comes with a great story
I look forward to other posts from you .
Please tell me how you are able to I D the helmet to I R 21 ?
Thanks
Steve

Thanks Steve,
Here's a better photo for everyone of the chamber stamp on the left side of the neck shield:
1 B R 21

the flag is a holy grail, wonderful
Frank

 

[Tony without Kaiser]

Thank you for this very interesting post Frank. Were you friends with the Army Historian?

Your photo below of the Adler in post #6 is a good example of how the early 1842 were sand casted, or pressed and cut out of sheet. Soon after highly detailed die-stamping became the norm. The lack of detail on the Adler indicates (to my eye), an early pressed and cut Adler which always have muted detail, same on the reverse. So in Frank’s image you can compare the older muted detail Adler to the die stamped and perfectly detailed added 1860 Bandeau.

Superb 1842/60 Frank. Really enjoying this posting. Thank you for showing.

 

[KAGGR#1]

Helm IR 21

Thanks Steve,
Here's a better photo for everyone of the chamber stamp on the left side of the neck shield:
1 B R 21

the flag is a holy grail, wonderful
Frank

Thanks for the photos
I had missed seeing the issue stamps
Steve

 

[Nacuaa]

Very valuable information on original early helmets that we collect. Thank you!!

 

[Oldenburg]

Thank you for this very interesting post Frank. Were you friends with the Army Historian?

Your photo below of the Adler in post #6 is a good example of how the early 1842 were sand casted, or pressed and cut out of sheet. Soon after highly detailed die-stamping became the norm. The lack of detail on the Adler indicates (to my eye), an early pressed and cut Adler which always have muted detail, same on the reverse. So in Frank’s image you can compare the older muted detail Adler to the die stamped and perfectly detailed added 1860 Bandeau.

Superb 1842/60 Frank. Really enjoying this posting. Thank you for showing.

View attachment 37395

Thank you Tony for your additional and important advice about obtaining the eagle

I am very pleased that this article helps to clarify the development history of eagle models

Best regards

Frank

 

[Oldenburg]

As promised, now for Sandy's list the measurements:

Helmet Height: 27 cm
Shell. . “ : 17 cm
Spike : 7,5 cm
Plate Height. : 13 cm
Cinscade (flat) width at the back: 2,3 cm
Front visor Height : 6 cm
Rear visor. “. : 6 cm
Helm Weight. : 751 gramm

Frank

 

[Sandmann]

Thank you Frank, really appreciate your support

 

[LangeKerl]

A friend from the Czech Republic brought me a copy of the catalog. It's superb!!

I am grateful the captions are in both Czech and German.

 

[LangeKerl]

Here's an interesting YouTube video of the "Battle of Skalitz";

 

[LangeKerl]

As a point of interest
this pole and pole top were at the war of 1866
note the silver plaque at the base of the 1813 Iron Cross pole top
2 Garde Regt zu Fuss / I Batl
SteveView attachment 37358

Steve, that's stunning!!

 

[KAGGR#1]

Steve, that's stunning!!

Willi
Thank you
Steve