New to forum, looking for advice on a pickelhaube I own

P

paulie1331

New member
Hi all,

Thanks for looking at my post. I recently inherited a pickelhaube from a relative who had purchased this item from a militaria dealer not more than 10 years ago or so (I think). I believe the standard Prussian Line Infantry pickelhaube from circa 1915/1916 is authentic in part, but I also think it has some possible replacement parts on it as well due to the great condition of certain sections of the helmet. The main helmet shell has cracks in the leather etc, but some of the fittings appear to be newer. However, maybe I just got lucky and this hand me down helmet is in great shape and everything is original. I am looking for your expert opinion just for my FYI. I will not sell this helmet as I am a World War I fanatic with a great love of the history of the war without the specific focus or knowledge of relics from the war. Part of the helmet (the rear neck guard) appears to be glued on as well as stitched (any instances of glue being used during construction by the Germans?). Probably not (regarding the glue) but a guy can hope can't he? :)

Thanks, Paul
 
Welcome to this great forum !

Your M15 helmet looks not bad at all (apart from the glued on neckguard) and the (new) liner -(I can be wrong on this of course) !
Enjoy strolling around !
Warning: you'll soon get infected by the Pickelhaube virus !
Rgds,
Francis
 
About the liner: I think I was fooled by the light. That's why this looked "pale" and "new" to me.
Fine M15 !
Francis
 
Welcome to the forum and I agree that your helmet looks quite ok, including the liner. However, I am not quite sure about the authenticity of the cockades but I could be wrong here. Could you post some additional pictures of the inside of the neck guard?

Best regards,

Edwin
 
Thanks Francis and Edwin, I appreciate the feedback and especially that it was good feedback! It is nice to know that I have a fairly good helmet here and that some of my fears may have been misplaced.

I am close to getting addicted to collecting this kind of stuff especially since I have so much great hand me down militaria already from older relatives who collected items (like this helmet), or actually captured some items from the Germans and Japanese in the Second World War.

Unfortunately, I don't have the money to do too much pickelhaube collecting since they are quite expensive in the states. Maybe later I will have more funds to spend on this hobby. The best thing I have purchased myself is an Iron Cross 1st Class from the First World War.

I will continue to browse this forum as I am now more interested in these helmets as I have always been interested in the uniforms, medals, and helmets of various nations in the two world wars. Although anything from the Schutztruppen is probably prohibitively expensive, I find those items very interesting due to their rarity and of course the amazing story behind the colonial troops of the German Empire (lettow-vorbeck, tsingtao, and many other battles and personalities).

You had requested that I post more pictures of the neck guard and inside so here they are! Thanks again and let me know anything else you notice from looking at the pictures.

Sincerely,

Paul
 
Thanks for the pictures and there are no regimental markings (at least as far as I can see) visible in the neck guard. Its always nice if a helmet contains some markings that enable to trace back its history.

Best regards,

Edwin
 
Thank you Edwin. It is a shame that we will likely never know the history of this helmet but I am very glad for the help I have received in the forum and will cherish this very nice M15 with the knowledge that most of the parts are likely original. This was the best possible response I could have gotten. Have a good day!
 
Welcome to the forum. Your liner is totally original and a typical "un dyed" M15 example. The earlier model M95's have the liner dyed black. The use of glue is not original to the helmet, just an add on by some collector or more likely a dealer who did not know how to properly restitch the visor. I have run into this on several occaisions doing restorations. Most times it can be fixed.
 
Thank you! It is nice to know that the glue can likely be fixed and that the rest of the helmet is in good shape especially the liner since I know that can be the first thing to go in a helmet sometimes. Thank you for the very friendly welcome to the forum. This has been great even though I have only been a member for a short time.

Paul
 
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