Dearest pinkfreud,
I will happily answer your question! It might sound strange, but the
helmet that is, to the present day, something like a symbol for German
military, wasn't a German invention. It was first introduced in the
Russian army under Czar Nicholas I in the early 1840s. It was much
higher than the better-known version German soldiers wore in the early
20th century. The helmet's form showed influences of old Russian and
Turkish helmets as well as of medieval helmets, which all had often
spikes. The spike was not mere decoration: It was designed to refract
sword strikes aimed at the head. A good concept, since in the 19th
century infantry was still in danger of being attacked by cavalry with
sabres.
When Prussian King Frederick William IV visited his cousin Nicholas I
in St. Petersburg, he saw the first of these helmets worn by Russian
soldiers. A romatic, brimming over with enthusiasm for the Middle
Ages, Frederick William saw the connection between the Russian helmet
and the medieval helmets. So in October 1842, the spiked helmet was
introduced in the Prussian army, replacing the shako.
Over the years, the helmet became lower. And though the spike lost its
original purpose - cavalry attacks with sabres became uncommon,
because the infantry's fire power would have stopped mounted troops -,
it was kept as part of the design. Not all Prussian troops wore the
spiked helmet: Artillery had a version where a cannonball replaced the
spike, to avoid injuries while operating guns. Jäger (Rangers) had a
modernized shako, Ulanen (Lancers) a so-called Tschapka helmet in
Polish style, Hussars fur caps. But the infantry, which made tha main
share of the Prussian army, had the typical helmet.
Some German states adopted the Prussian helmet, and after the German
unification of 1871, it was introduced in the armies of all German
states (the Bavarians were the last to give up their individual helmet
model in the 1880s).
The helmet was, by the way, not made of steel, but of pressed hard
leather, with decorative brass parts.
And it might be interesting to know that "Pickelhaube" was never the
official term for it. In all official documents, it was only called
"Helm" (Helmet). The popular name "Pickelhaube" derived from the
medieval word "Beckenhaube" for a metal helmet. And by funny
coincidence, "Pickelhaube" means literally "helmet with spike". Well,
maybe it was not coincedence...
Source:
Historische Uniformen, by Liliane and Fred Funcken. Published by
Orbis, 1997. ISBN 3-572-00813-1
Hope that was interesting!
Have a wonderful day,
Scriptor |
