Description
PRUSSIA – PICKELHAUBE /SPIKED HELMET – OFFICER – PARADE WITH STORAGE CASE – FÜSILIER-REGIMENT NR 86
This is an amazing officer pickelhaube for a Prussian infantry regiment. It comes complete with a full parade bush and trichter and housed in its storage case. There is no doubt that the spike helmet is in the condition that it is due in no small part because of the storage carton.
To be most honest there is little difference in its condition from when the officer purchased it more than one hundred years ago. This suburb helmet is attached to Füsilier-Regiment Königin (Schleswig-Holsteinsches) Nr 68. How do we know it is for this regiment and not another? Please bear with us and you will soon know.
In 1886 this regiment as created and in 1867 it received its AKO. In 1890 the regiment which had changed its location previously was transferred to Flensburg (I. And II. Bataillone) and to Sonderburg III Bataillone. At the same time by Imperial decree the regiment officially became Füsilier-Regiment Königin (Schleswig-Holsteinsches) Nr 68. The wife of the Kaiser Augusta Viktoria became the regimental chef of the regiment. As an aside many years ago I had a presentation box of a pair of epaulets for the regimental commander. On the box was the date in 1890, the name of the commander, and a plaque that confirmed that the epaulets were a gift from the Kaiserin.
OK, now we get to the reason that this pickelhaube is for this regiment. Actually many people think that all Prussian infantry regiments were authorized to use parade bushes with trichters. This was not the case. After you got past Garde-Regiments and some of the elite Grenadier-Regiments there were only two. After studying the pictures I could see there were two types of wappens that were used. First there is one with wide spread wings which was typical of Garde and Grenadier wappens. But there is a second type. This has the Eagles wings closed and the wappen is much more compact. This is the style of wappen used by this regiment AND this was the only regiment to use a parade bush so our mystery is solved!
Let us turn to our description to the helmet. The leather body is near perfect. The leather is supple and smooth. All of the furniture is brass to include the wappen, chinscales. Base, stars, and trichter are brass. The wappen is delightful and is finely fire gilded and gleams. The Prussian and reich kokarden are present and securely attached by the chinscales. The black horse hair bush is full and looks to have been well curry combed. There is no spike with this helmet only the parade bush and trichter.
The helmet is housed in an extra tall storage carton to accommodate the bush and trichter. The leather handle at the top is present but is broken. The strap that holds the bottom to the top is present and fully operational. The interior of the carton is yellow cotton and is in excellent condition with minimal wear.
As we turn to interior, we see a fine dark brown leather sweat band that shows little or no use. Attached to this is a handsome red silk leather which again is mint. As we look under the silk lining we see all of the original hardware in place. We also see marked in the interior the size of the helmet which is “56″. This is an average size.
In conclusion this is a 100% original and untouched pickelhaube from an honored regiment. The regiment had officers and men who served during the Boxer Rebellion, actions in Southwest and East Africa, and served on the Western front for all of WW I. This is a consignment item.
