German pickelhaube

Description:	Nothing stands out more in the history of military uniforms than the spiked helmet, or pickelhaube, which literally means pimple hat. The pickelhaube was originally part of Prussian military headgear. The Prussian King, Friedrich Wilhelm, designed the helmet in 1842. Though the design had problems, it continued to be used, with improvements, over the years. When Friedrich died in 1861, his younger brother, Wilhelm, became King of Prussia. Following the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the German Empire was founded and King Wilhelm I became Kaiser Wilhelm I. Unlike the military uniform that changed as time went by, the basic construction of the German pickelhaube stayed the same. This particular helmet was issued in 1915, at the onset of World War I. The fixtures are steel and painted gray, due to the shortfall of brass and silver during the war. The sides should have two cockades, Although this artifact only has one. The left cockade stands for the Prussian state colors of black, white, and black pattern. The right cockade, though missing, should have been black, white, and red, which stood for the German National colors. The front eagle plate is standard Prussian and reads the Kings motto, Mit Gott Fur Koenig und Vaterland (With God for King and Country). By 1916, the new German helmet, the Stahlhelm, replaced the pickelhaube.
Source:	http://www.digitalindy.org/cdm/ref/collection/tcm/id/1158
Collection:	The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Rights:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/;
Copyright:	Creative Commons (CC By-SA 3.0);
Geography:	Germany
Subjects:	World War, 1914-1918 Germany Germany -- Politics and government -- 20th century Military uniforms Helmets Prussia (Germany) -- History

Further information on this record can be found at its source.