Original Item: Only One Available. This is a rare German first world war M-1895 Prussian Guard brass mounted leather helmet, known as a Pickelhaulbe. It displays a lovely condition brass Prussian large spread eagle helmet plate. The sides of the plate reads “Mit Gott für König und Vaterland” and the center reads “SUUM CIQUE”.
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Helmet comes complete with supple original leather liner and complete original chinstrap which has separated along the fold for the keeper. The spike on top denotes infantry issue, and it has the correct black and white (Prussian) and Tri-color (German Empire) cockades around the chin strap lugs. The cockades are original, with both the National Colors (Red/White/Black) and the State Colors (Black/White).
Overall condition is very good, with great condition leather and fittings. The leather finish has some checking, typical for a helmet of this age. A very impressive display piece.
The Guards Corps / GK (German: Gardekorps) was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
The Corps was headquartered in Berlin, with its units garrisoned in the city and nearby towns (Potsdam, Jüterbog, Döberitz). Unlike all other Corps of the Imperial German Army, the Guards Corps did not recruit from a specific area, but from throughout Prussia and the “Imperial Lands” of Alsace-Lorraine.
In peacetime the Corps was assigned to the II Army Inspectorate but joined the 2nd Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 4th Army, Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht on the Western Front. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
An exceptional example perfect for the collection of WWI material.