Extremely rare photograph of the very 1st kind of helmet cover or Uberzug.
Infanterie-Regiment Markgraf Carl (7. Brandenburgisches) Nr.60 Weißenburg XXI
The original covers were allegedly authorized by an AKO dated 8 May 1884. The purpose of this was to have some way of marking sides during maneuvers. The solution that was used was to equip one side of the maneuvers with a white cloth cover. There is an example of this cover located in the museum in Rastatt.
The problem is that there was no AKO in 1884 that authorized these Uberzugs. Therefore, I do not know whether the authorization extended throughout the army, just for the Kaiser maneuver, or only for a specific group. They surely existed, and they surely were for maneuver purposes, but there was no AKO.
ps1750 by Joe Robinson, on Flickr 
ps1750b by Joe Robinson, on Flickr
ps707 by Joe Robinson, on Flickr
