BACKGROUND: The Pickelhaube was designed by Friedrich Wilhelm IV and adopted by the Prussia Army in 1842. It was first worn on active duty in 1849, during the suppression of an uprising in the south-west German state of Baden. The helmet was modified several times, mostly as a result of field experience garnered during the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. By 1886, the Pickelhaube was the standard form of headdress adopted by the German army. The first camouflaging cloth helmet cover was introduced in May of 1892, and was attached to the Pickelhaube by the same five hook securing system introduced with the prototypical "Manover Kappe" in 1884. Covers for officers were distinguished by stiffened bands instead of hooks, which fit over the visor and back peak. A directive issued in January of 1897 ordered that regimental numbers be sewn to the front of the covers, originally in red, but at the beginning of the First World War the color was changed to green. The use of these numbers was discontinued in 1916, and the covers themselves were withdrawn from service in 1917.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A grey-green cloth helmet cover for an officer’s Pickelhaube. The cover is approximately 11 3/8" across at its widest point when laid flat, and its "spike" covering, which is taller than those found on enlisted covers, is sewn to the apex of the body. The spike covering has worn through at its top, and has separated along its seam line to what must be the back. Pleats descend from where the spike covering is sewn to the body, and along either side over what were elasticized cloth tapes. It does not appear to have had a regimental number sewn to the front of its body. Sewn along the edges of its front and back are stiffened, crescent-shaped bands, each of which are 7 7/8" across. Light fraying may be seen where the ends of each of these are sewn to the body. Color fading and light soiling is evident throughout, there are a couple of picks to the spike covering, and some staining is visible to what must be the back of the cover’s body. It is otherwise intact.

GRADE ***3/4                             PRICE $295.00