Wearing Pickelhaubes on tour in Germany

[thermo]

See this post on trip advisor:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g187275-i116-k8390947-Wearing_a_Picklehaube_helmet_in_Germany-Germany.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All the responses seem to be negative so far. Any thoughts?

 

[ebeeby]

The whole planet has been trained to be overly-sensitive to ......everything. Germans especially have been trained to be sensitive to anything having to do with the World Wars (even though I would argue that the French President and Foreign Minister, along with the Russian and Austrian Foreign Ministers are the ones culpable for that first dust up). Of late, the Germans *seemed* at last to have thrown off some of their collective guilt (after all, most of the combatants are deceased) for Hitler's evil disaster.
Bad taste and disrespectful at a minimum.

Just my 2cents. YMMV

 

[gunner cooper]

agree with ebeeby, rugby fans enjoy a good game, a good beer and a lot of ribaldry, hooliganism amongst rugby fans is practically un heard of (unlike football (soccer))

but the German reactions are pretty definitive and I suppose you have to respect that but they may be unaware that the first war was nothing like the second as the ideology was not there.

it is a sad fact that young Germans still feel guilty for something that happened 70 years ago. it should not be forgotten but it is hardly their fault.

 

[Spiker]

If there is any doubt on how this idea will go down, why take the chance? There are plenty of other ways to have a good time, without risking trouble.

 

[911car]

On the other hand, may I remind you that during the 2006 football (soccer) world cup, german fans were wearing spiked helmets made of moulded plastic and coloured in black/red/yellow?...

 

[Khukri]

Correct !
http://www.pickelhauben-onlineshop.de/product_info.php?info=p2_--Weltmeisterhaube-2014----.html&XTCsid=dqphxprd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.die-pickelhaube.de/galerie.php?dirid=1&seite=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Francis

 

[poniatowski]

The vacu-formed plastic helmets don't look like real Pickelhaube and they say, "We're German, let's have fun!", whereas the more realistic ones are mainly sold for tourists in larger cities. I wanted to find one of those fun plastic ones for the World Cup finals last summer when we were in Germany, but couldn't find any, so got a hat instead!

Here's my reply to the Travel thread:

"From what I've noticed during my travels in Germany, I've only seen one person wear a Pickelhaube, and that was a comedian in a resort town on the Ost See. Although Germans have a historical appreciation of their Imperial past, many of them don't discern between this type of helmet and Nazi-ism, in that it's part of their past that they just don't want foreigners using in parody (not to mention that WWI veterans often wore them for Nazi-era parades and such... so there's a physical and historic link there).

It was very good of you to ask, but I'd go with a normal team hat and just save the idea for a costume party with friends... in England.

Finally, I say this as a Pickelhaube collector with close friends in NRW. I wouldn't even THINK of wearing even a toy one at their home."

Here is one of the helmets I've only found in places like Berlin, Dusseldorf and other larger cities:

http://www.amazon.com/Forum-Novelties-German-Officer-Pickelhaub/dp/B00CHF7QAS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429273877&sr=8-1&keywords=pickelhaube" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I ordered three for our 'cat sitter', my wife and myself this past summer when we went to Germany. My hope was that they'd be good to display covers, but they're too big. However, they ARE good for costume parties.

My 2 cents worth.

Ron

 

[b.loree]

Unfortunately Ron some still don't appreciate your comment on that Brit's question. Seems like they are not aware of the difference between the 2nd and 3rd Reichs!

 

[poniatowski]

Unfortunately Ron some still don't appreciate your comment on that Brit's question. Seems like they are not aware of the difference between the 2nd and 3rd Reichs!

That's okay, I took a look and I think it was translational misunderstandings. No biggie. :wink:

Ron