Stopped at an antique shop today and they have the shell of a pickelhaube. It still has an infantry spike and brass spine(?) which are in good shape, but over the years the sides were pressed together. The front and rear bills are present. No cockades or chinstrap or helmet plate.

Taking all of this into consideration, is it worth $75.00? I am thinking about restoring it enough to display with the cloth cover over it.

How hard will it be to reshape the shell? Is this a good winter project or just an exercise in futility?

Hi Beast,

Do you have any pic of the haube shell? If the brass trimmings are still present/intact, there is a good chance that you could restore it again to shape.
As for the shape, pls visit Tony's very useful sites abt pickelhaubes, you could literally find everyhting you need to know abt haubes, I always go there for answers, research or simply to AWE.

http://kaisersbunker.com/

Here is his site abt conservation and preservation of haubes:

http://kaisersbunker.com/preservation/index.htm

Btw, is there any marks on the rear visor of yr haube? Perhaps we could determine what kind of haube it was, a Prussian, baden or others?

Hope this helps
Mush

Btw,

i think $ 75 is a good bargain.

Thanks Mush. I picked it up today and have included some photos. I was wrong about the brass. It is a model 1915 with the removable spike. Even rougher I shape than I earlier described with a split on one side. Anyway I think it will be a good learning experience. I think my first tak will be to softern the shell to reshape it.

Let me know what you think of it!


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A few more photos.
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HI Beast,

Thanks for the pics, yes, it seems that yr haube is in a rougher shape than described, well, pics sure speak more than a thousand words
It seems that you are missing the front visor trim, the leather had some of the coating flaking off and the right side rear visor is loose, and its mishapped pretty bad.
And yes, there is a split on one side, the rest of the fittings look complete tho. Even the liner and the removable spike is intact! Thats a good news. The M91 side post for the kokarden are also intact.

What interest me is the presence of the Depot mark! Yours is marked to the 29 R, I am out of town right now, will look thro some books to find out what regiment was the 29th, was it a Prussian, Baden etc.
Most likely its a Prussian 29 Infantry RGT. And there are some other marks that I need to check out and let you know asap.

Should you need someone who could profesionally restore yr helmet, pls let me know, I know someone who could do that, and he does it magnificently.

You have a great marked M15 haube.

hope this helps,
mush

Mush,
Thanks for the assesment and kind words. Although it is in very rough shape, I just had a hard time seeing it hanging from the horn of a stuffed animal's head in the antique shop and figured it needed rescueing. Maybe I have a Messiah complex or something.

Please let me know what you find on the unit's markings. There is also the marking "1 E L" in front of the other markings.

Thanks again!

BTW Mush, thanks for the links to Tony's site! I had been there before, but totally missed the section on care and preservation. His is a fantastic reference!

Hi Beast,

Here is what I found, yes, yours is indeed a Prussian M15 haube, the 29th Infantry Rgt was the Prussian Inf. Rgt von Horn (3 Rhein) Nr 29 VIII corp, and it was raised in 1813.

And yes, Tony's site is a fantastic reference, and all of his haubes are MARKED, that alone is fantastic.

How is the restoration going on?

Hope this helps,
Mush



And I am very curious abt the 'g a' mark found on yr helmet, will check around and let you know.

Hi Beast,

Found this haube parts on ebay, but its already reached $71. It has the part that you need, the front visor trim and the prussian M15 wappen plate.

http://cgi.ebay.com/OLD-WORLD-WAR-GERMAN-H...1QQcmdZViewItem

Btw, when does this year Max is going to be held?

A helmet plate/wappen is quite easy to find, they pop every now and then on ebay and I belive it cost around $ 75-100, depending on the condition.

The chinstrap on the other hand, is quite rare, it was said that even during service, a soldier tended to lose their chinstrap. My guess is that, an original chinstrap wl cost roughly ard 100-150 bucks.

And yes, you will be needing a pair of kokarden, too. These are also relative easy to find on ebay.
Even an original uberzug/canvas cover could be pretty pricey, and they are nt that easy to find either and somtimes the size doesnt fit.

I will keep looking these stuffs for you and will let you know asap when I found them.


Hope this helps,
Mush

Hey Mush,
Thanks for the link. I think if I bid on it, it would give me TWO haubes to rebuild!

Hi Beast,

Managed to find a Reich kokarde (red, white and black)for you, he is selling for $50, then you will need to find the Prussian (state) kokarde.
Scroll all the way dwn to the pickelhaube parts section, well, all of his price are very steep, but this kokarde's price is reasonable.

http://www.derrittmeister.com/headdress1.htm#pickeltop

http://www.derrittmeister.com/productpages/04413.htm

compare it with this repro, found on Randy's site, he is selling each for $25, he has both the Reich and Prussian kokarden. But its a repro, Ken's one on the other hand is original and it cost $ 50 for the Reich kokard

http://www.ageofkingsmilitaria.com/sell2.htm

Hope this helps,
Mush

And a front and rear visor for sale on ebay, too.

The front visor looks in better shape than yours tho, still maintain its round/oval shape. But it also lacks the front visor trim.

http://cgi.ebay.com/WW1-PICKELHAUBE-PARTS-...1QQcmdZViewItem



Hope this helps,
Mush

Hey Mush,

What do you think of this one?
http://cgi.ebay.com/WW-1-Prussian-Spike-He...1QQcmdZViewItem


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Hi Beast,

Thats a nice Officer's uberzug, an officer's uberzug is much more nicely done than the EM's, well, EMs were mass produced after all. Amd officer's uberzugs are all pvt purchase, usually the uberzug was purcahsed together with the helmet, officers had to buy everything on their own, hence some officer's uberzug do not necesarily fit into another officer's haube, as the haubes were pvt purchase, hence they were custom made, and the uberzug fits perfectly with the haube.
The seller is also selling a Baden M15 and other haubes.

EM uberzugs on the other hand, has this sloppy look, sometimes a too small or too loose look. And only EM uberzugs had their regiment numbers sewn infront, red numerals before or early war, and then green during war years, and then lastly none at the twilight of the pickelhaube era.

Tony kaiser has just added a marvelous and detailed reference page, its all abt uberzug (canvas cover)

http://www.kaisersbunker.com/pt/uberzug.htm

Hoe this helps,
Mush

Hi Beast,

Found 2 pairs of kokarden for sale on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/German-Spiked-Helmet-C...1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com/GERMAN-WW1-PICKELHAUBE...1QQcmdZViewItem

Good luck, I think the chinstrap will be more difficult to find.

Hope this helps,
Mush

Mush,
What holds the kokarden on to the helmet? Is there a cap or something that goes over the posts?

Hi Beast,

Well, the kokarden is inserted by means of a simple slot. The 2 side posts that are found on every haubes, yours are intact, are called as the '91 side post, and it has a "V" shaped point, its main task is to prevent the kokarden AND the chinstrap from falling off, but thats nt the case apparently, some/most haubes are found without their original kokarden present, and these 2 items, the kokarden and chinstrap are the most common stuffs to be lost.
The chinstrap itself has a "V" shaped slot, its purpose is for easy attachment to the 91 sidepost as the chinstrap hole is smaller than that of a kokard.

here are some pics of my EM wurttemberg haube, these pics show the way the kokard and the chinstrap are attached to the 91 sidepost.

Hope this helps,
Mush

Thanks Mush. I saw the way that the officer's were attached and wasn't sure if the EM were also that same style.

For all of you who are interested, here are some new photos with just a little TLC. Nothing permanent has been done to the haube yet.

What do you folks think? (BTW I have cotton cloth on the styrofoam head to protect the leather.)

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Hey Beast,

Thats impressive!

You did a great job on reshaping the haube there, really impressive, more than just a littele bit of TLC, I belive, patient is a factor, too.
I took the liberty of editing your before and after' haube pics for comparisson, hope its ok with you.

And you did right by putting a cloth over the styrofoam head, as suggested by Tony.

Again, its really impressive, didnt expect to see it reshaped as it is now.

btw, i am still looking for yr 'ga' mark.

cheer,
mush

Thanks for the kind words Mush! I have added a set of kokarden to it now. I was surprised how loose they fit to the posts. I am surprised any helmets still have their originals! Although I would still want to display it with the helmet cover, I have decided to look for a helmet plate and chinstrap. The MAX show is at the end of this month and I hope to find some parts there. If nothing else, I would like to see more original examples that I can hold and examine.

Well folks, here are some updated photos of the haube. I am still working on reshaping it. This will take some time. However I have replaced the plate and kokarden. Also I have added a repro chinstrap. No permanent repairs have been made.

Let me know what you think! I am happy to listen to any suggestions or recommendations.

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WHOA!!]

Thats very impressive! Honestly, I didnt expect that you could pull this one off, I mean, that haube was in a bad shape. But I am really surprise that you managed to reshape the skull, does it shrink back when its taken off the manequin? And what the liner,. does it crack or something?

Did you sew the rear visor? It seems kinda loose before the restoration. And could you pls post some pics of the rear view and the liner?

You did a magnificent job, I cant do it. That need patient and passion to restore the haube, the wappen plate fit nicely and kokarden, too.

Impressive!


Salute!
Mush

Btw, perhaps findingthe front visor trim could be tricky, will keep an eye and let you know when I found one.

Really curious to see the end result of yr incredible restoration.

Thanks for the kind words Mush. The body is slowly get back its shape. You really have to hand it to the Germans who designed and made these. The quality on a common EM haube is amazing! I think thats why it is coming back so well. I still haven't sewn the rear visor on yet (still haven't got the courage up to make a permanent change). I just repositioned it back into place.

Also thanks for looking out for parts for me. I was at the MAX military show today and saw many nice (and not-so-nice) haubes. Not many spare part though.

I may kick myself later, but there was a 1915 infantry haube that needed rebuilding. Missing korkarden, rivets and the spike. all of the other metal seemed to be there (plate, spine, spike base) but the front and rear visors were laying loose in the box. The dealer wanted $130.00 for it, but it seemed like it was going to take more time than I could dedicate right now. Also, I think the price to replace the parts would excede the value. The body was in excellent shape. No crazing or cracks.

It is probably better to put the money to a better haube or cover.

Hi Beast,
Thought this may interest you, its a chinstrap for pickelhaube, yours is a repro, right?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=120042063990

I am still on the look out for yr visor trims, how is the project going on so far?

Cheers,
Mush