I have been contemplating buying one of these for some time now and finally took the plunge. I know little to nothing about these other than the fact they are gorgeous.

There are two stamps inside the rear visor one of which is the size I presume 54 5/8 I think (the original owner had a very small head) and the other is 40.R.

On the subject of small size heads did people back then have smaller heads than we do now? I only ask as I have a Horizon blue Adrian helmet and it too is extremely small!

Other side

Rear

Inside

Likes like a nice one! Way to go.

Regards,


Joel

That puppy looks fantastic! As for the small sizes....my haube just barely fits my seven year old daughter! WHOA...I think there must have been a variety of sizes....the larger ones were used and abused and the small ones that weren't are what remain for us to collect today. Look at Hindenburg pics where he is wearing his haube....he was a big dude! No small head on that guy! But I also agree that people were generally smaller then.

I absolutely love that helmet! Congrats on this purchase!

Cheers!

Rob

ps.....BTW...love the avatar pic....feels like I've gone back in time to Saigon on leave! hahahaha

GERMANY STARTED TWO WORLD WARS, AND LOST BOTH OF THEM.

OF COURSE THEY HAD SMALL HEADS !

Thanks for you kind comments. I bought this off Ebay and am always a little worried about buying anything off there. Thankfully the guy was very honest in his description, he even posted it to Ireland although he declared that he only wanted US bidders.

As to the avatar, it is actually an animated gif where she does a very nice little dance although I can't get it to work! I will keep working on it tho! Make those happy memories just a little more memorable.

Thanks again!

Hi,

Congrats!! Thats a neat 1895/97 Prussian haube you have there! The liner is still intact with the tongues present, even the drawstring is present!

And there is a depot stamp, too/ 40 R is the Fussilier Rgt. Fuerst Karl Anton von Hohenzollern . Nr 40 of XIV corp, simply, the Prussian Fussilier 40th Rgt.

Well, well, well, it seems that you are having one of only 8Prussian Rgt that were designated as Fussilier Rgt.
And there were 176 Prussian Infantry Rgts (this number is the comonly accepted for pre war establishment and it only refers to 'active' rgts only, not reserve/landstrum etc), and out of these 176 Inf Rgts, there were only 8 Fuss Rgts, and you haube is one of them! The 40th Fuss Rgt.

Congrats again on such a magnificent find , oh yes, the 40th Fuss Rgt was raised in 1818.

Cheers,
Mush

Btw,

Your avatar works perfectly fine!

that's a fine looking Pickelhaube!congrats on acquiring it.i was watching an artillery one on ebay (minus badge) but it went quite high, too high for me.oh well, maybe one day...
Bill

Great info, Mush....you know your stuff man! That's awesome!

Cheers!

Rob

Hi guys, many thanks for the kind words, I know absolutely nothing about these and I am delighted to have bought a genuine helmet, more so considering that I bought it on Ebay and that scares me when I don't know what I should be looking for.

I can't thank you enough Musashi for the information on the helmet and it's regimental history. This is invaluable to me and places the helmet in it's full and proper context. Again.. many, many thanks.

Incidentally, the helmet cost me $740 including shipping and insurance, was this a fair price? Unless my circumstances should change I can't see me ever wanting to part with it so I guess the value is pretty irrelevant, nevertheless I am curious to know If I paid the going rate.

JDC

Hi JDC

Well,as for the price, like you said, the value is irreveland. But what is the price of the helmet alone, minus the shopping and insurance?
I think this helmet should be in the $ 500-600 range. It has a nice liner, good leather shell, nice brass fittings and it seems that it has minimum crazing on the leather shell (actually crazing doesnt effect the cost, but again, thats in theory ) and appeaers to have original leather chinstap as well. And a depot stamp indicating that it belong to the Prussian 40th Fusillier Rgt.

Here is another info abt the fusilliers, it was said that during the 18th century, the grenadiers companies advanced on the right flank of the marchin battalions. On their left side were light companies armed with flintlock guns. These soldiers, tgough nt necessarily as tall as the grenadiers, were also considered 'elite', and these were the fusilliers. There was also a fusilier Rgt in the Prussian Guard: The Garde Fusiliier-Rgt. In the Line, some (8 of them) were also designated as fusilier rgts, yours 40th Rgt was one of them.

Hope this helps,
Mush

Hi Musashi,

I paid $695 for it so it's possibly a little over book. I looked at dozens of helmets from dealers and auctions, many of which seemed quite rough and pretty expensive, but this one just jumped out at me and I am glad it did. More so now knowing that there is a degree of rareity about it.

When my piggy bank fills up again I would like to buy an officers helmet to compliment it although a good officer helmet will cost a good deal more than this one.

If I could pick your brain just a little more, is this helmet likely to have been worn during WW1?


JDC

Hi JDC,

Yes, there is a verybig chance that yr helmet served in WW I. After all, its the 1895/97 type haube, its the last 'shiny' haube to be issued to the soldiers, as when the war broke out, the shining brass trims were considered to be a liability to the user, well, they reflected sunshine! And also to free the brass and silver for war effort.
check out Tony's great site:

http://www.kaisersbunker.com/pe/m1895.htm

Besides that, the EM haube, yours is a Prussian Enlisted Man's 40th Fusslier Rgt, was a goverment property, all EM were issued and they were to return the haube to the depot when they were discharged, hence no EM could keep their haube, unless they bought it on their own, hence the term 'Private purchase', but again, EM seldom bought their pvt purchase helmet, one of the reason was the price and the other one is there was no necessity for that as they were issued, unlike the officers, where they were to buy their own haube.

But I cant answer the nice condition on some of these EM haubes, i dont see any 'garniture' marks on yr haube. garniture marks were roman numeral type marks that were stamped when the haube was returned to the depot, and the depot judged the condition of the haube by the marks. And yours have no such marks, which means that it was issued freshly made to the guy and perhaps, just perhaps, he was killed outright when the war broke out, or wounded and his haube was souvenired, or taken prisoners and souvenired again.And all these happened prior the 1915, when the M15 haube was introduced.

http://www.kaisersbunker.com/pe/m1915.htm

But again, this is just my theory as I am still puzzled by the nice/very nice condition on some of the haubes.

Hope this helps,
Mush