Item Description
Original Item: Only One Available. The Pickelhaube is an Iconic helmet, design, which originated in 19th Century German. The name itself comes from the German Pickel, "point" or "pickaxe", and Haube, "bonnet", a general word for "headgear". Also known colloquially as Pickelhelm, these were spiked helmets worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Prussian and German military, firefighters and police.
Although typically associated with the Prussian Army, which adopted it in 1842–43, the helmet was widely imitated by other armies during that period in Europe, in this case by the Scandinavian Country of Sweden. They adopted this style of helmet in 1887, and used it in the WWI period until it was replaced by steel helmets. As with most German pickelhauben, the Swedish version is made from boiled leather, which is then lacquered black. The design also follows the basic German model, with front and rear leather visors, the front with metal trim, and a support spine for the rear visor.
The fittings from other examples we have seen are like this one, and seem to be all of nickel silver alloy, often called "German Silver." The top has the usual round spike base with a nice vented spike. It has a very large front plate, or wappen, which shows the Swedish Crown over the coat of arms: Three Crowns on a Shield. There are lions to either side, with flags behind. Underneath is the IHS badge of the "Order of the Seraphim". The front plate is secured by loops with leather wedges through them, though one of the three loops is missing the wedge.
The helmet has permanently attached nickel silver chin scales, which are attached at the front. The attachment points on both sides bear yellow circular cockades, which may signify the unit that the soldier was with. The chin scales are in good condition, though the leather backing has degraded.
The interior of the helmet has the standard "enlisted" style leather liner, which has unfortunately deteriorated and torn through on the ends of the fingers. There is a non-original top tie, which looks to be a shoelace. There are some markings inside the helmet and on the rear visor, but we are not able to decipher them.
A very nice example of a Swedish M1887 Pickelhaube helmet, ready to add to your collection!
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