The last of the Hessians … (leather helmets)

Spiker

Spiker

Well-known member
My latest salty ;
What we have here is an enlisted man’s 1915 Hessian helmet of the XVIII Armee
Round teller and spike.
Hersteller stamp in the body and the inside of the liner ; L .Ritgen Karlsruhe iB ,
and in the back visor the stamp ; RBA 18

enjoy

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Nice helmet!
But shouldn't the black iron plate (teller) be on the inside of the helmet instead of outside under the spike base?
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But shouldn't the black iron plate (teller) be on the inside of the helmet instead of outside under the spike base?
Click to expand...

This topic again! We have discussed this several times and in my mind inconclusively. there are some rather firm opinions that this is the result of improper reassembly – mostly by Americans – as a part of the war Bond effort. I do not believe I have a picture of anyone with this on the outside. However, I have seen it many times on both private purchase and issued helmets.
 
stuka f said:
Nice helmet!
But shouldn't the black iron plate (teller) be on the inside of the helmet instead of outside under the spike base?
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Click to expand...
A nice example of this kind of mount can be seen in the book ;Die Deutsche Armee im Ersten Weltkrieg
Uniformierung und Ausrüstung - 1914 bis 1918 ,by Jürgen Kraus

page 55
 
Kris and Joe are right, but I would nevertheless leave it as it is...because ... when was it assembled? It's part of the history of the helmet...

Great catch anyway.

Adler
 
First time I have seen it!
Didn't know thise. One learns every day.
Thanks for posting!
cheers
|<ris
 
Nice helmet, still in its original "juice"! :D
I agree with Joe. Brought or sent back helmets, which have been disassembled, to make the oversea transportation or shipment easier (or cheaper), and re-assembled at home.
Yes, belonging to the helmets history.

Philippe
 
SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL!!! =D> :cry:
I would carefully put it back the way it was in 1915 but that's just me :)
 
Nice Hessian Spiker! I bought a Prussian artillery EM that had the teller on the outside. I put it back where it belonged. :D
 
Nice, well conserved gray paint; pleasant patina. Everything you need to make an attractive M15. And it does not hurt that it be a hessian of course...
Congratulations.
Bruno
 
Thanks everyone for your opinions, but…
This helmet has never been assembled in any other way; the black washer would have left a mark
on the inside, just look at the patina guys.
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I’m with Adler on this one ,I’m leaving it the way it is ,I also don’t like to open 100 year old split pins.

(I also don’t think this helmet ever left the European soil, knowing where I found it.)
 
Even though everyone thinks I am in the majority here I really agree with Spiker. I have one of these and the teller is painted. I just don't see this assembly/disassembly. I readily admit I could be wrong and I investigated into this many years ago. The first story I was told was that the teller plate actually provided a minor bit of protection from artillery. I think that is stretching it more than a little. However these have shown up in private purchase, different manufacturers, different states and not all war bond like Spiker's. I cannot provide any photographic evidence. None. It certainly is not normal but was it done? I don't see why not as long as the color matched. This topic has provided for some extremely strong opinions in the past. For me it seems pretty gray.
 
:D :D , the protection from artillery would be a nice theory Joe.
Here’s another one,
This is the year 1915, the men all left to the front, who was working In the German factories?
PW‘s ? did they have their little revenge? :-"
 
Nice find and I agree leave this one as it is because its very easy to damage a delicate pickelhaube :D

Best regards,

Edwin
 
Great helme, and very complete. A great find! Regarding the support disc issue, if there is a difference in the colour of the inside of the shell ie some shadow of the disc, a lighter area then it has been moved . However, if the colour of the interior is totally uniform then it is what it is. This makes no sense to have the disc on the outside, it does not provide any more protection either way. Besides, this disc was never a protection piece, it provided support, nothing else. Sticking the disc on the interior or outside provides no more protection. It also does not speed up production of the helmet. Regarding POW construction...you think the Germans had no quality control over their workers? Yes we know the whole WW2 story about slave labour resistance moves BUT this disc is just too obvious on the assembly line. We are not talking subtle sabotage here. I would also look at the prongs on the spike base split brads. All of the untouched helmets that I have seen have the prongs bent right back close to the disc.There are no scratches in the paint of the support disc. It was done cleanly by some sort of press/punch mechanism. I have removed hundreds of brads from spike bases in my years of restoration. When I put them back and spread the prongs it is extremely difficult to get the prongs close to that disc. It was originally done by machine. In the end however, This is a beautiful example of the Hessen round spike base M15 helme complete with original kokarde and chin strap. Very very rare...a collectors dream.
 
Here's another haube with the reinforcement plate on the outside. As you can see, this has always been as it is now... I can't find traces of reassembling anyway.
Considering that this isn't an M15 model, this might outrule some theories?

Adler



 
This is the first non M15 ,that I see with the outer disc.
Well we just have to accept that sometimes for whatever reason; they were mounted like that.
The PoW theory was just a result of my endless imagination. (of which I have too much :happy3: )

Actually, it makes the helmet rarer than it already is. :)
 
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