The Prussian General Officer's Pickelhaube with Parade Plume represents one of the most distinctive pieces of military headgear in German history and embodies the ceremonial splendor of the Imperial German Army during its zenith. This particular example of the Model 1897 for general officers of the Prussian Guard combines the highest craftsmanship with the symbolic insignia of Prussian military tradition.
The history of the Pickelhaube began on 23 October 1842, when King Frederick William IV ordered its official adoption for the Prussian infantry through a royal cabinet order. What began as a Prussian innovation evolved into the characteristic hallmark of the German military over seven decades. The officer's Pickelhaube remained essentially unchanged from 1871 to 1899 in its higher, more domed shape, before adopting a lower skull-style form from 1899 until the end. With the exception of the addition of the Reich's Kokarde in 1897, the officer's Haube remained mostly the same from 1871 to 1918.
These helmets were constructed from boiled leather, which was then lacquered black. For general officer helmets, the metal fittings came in gilded or fire-gilded brass or bronze alloy. The frontplate displays the characteristic Prussian Guard Eagle with wide-spread wings, bearing upon its breast the Star of the Order of the Black Eagle – a silvered eight-pointed radiating star with the enameled center of the Order. The Order of the Black Eagle (Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler), founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg, was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The blue-enameled circlet bears the Prussian motto “Suum Cuique” (“To Each His Own”). This Guard eagle with the Order of the Black Eagle was the distinctive emblem of Prussian Guard formations, denoting elite status and direct service to the monarch.
The fluted brass spike could be unscrewed and replaced for parade occasions with a tall metal plume-holder known as a trichter. Prior to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, detachable black or white plumes were worn with the Pickelhaube in full dress by German generals, staff officers, dragoon regiments, infantry of the Prussian Guard and a number of line infantry regiments as a special distinction. The parade plume (Paradebusch) consisted of black and white feathers in a tall fluted metal holder.
The interior of these helmets typically featured a brown leather sweatband and beige or light-colored silk liner. The inner visors were lined in red and green, characteristic of officer helmets. Leather-backed gilt brass chinscales with State and Reich kokarden completed the ensemble.
Production was undertaken by various Berlin and German manufacturers, often to special order for officers. This helmet type was worn by general officers of the Prussian Guard Corps and the Imperial German Army circa 1897-1918. Proud Prussian military leaders with bristling mustaches posed for publicity photos sporting the Pickelhaube, including Kaiser Wilhelm II, Otto von Bismarck, and Paul von Hindenburg.
As the war entered its second year, leather became scarce in Germany so manufacturers began to produce the helmet using everything from treated felt to sheet metal instead. Such materials afforded the wearer very little protection and the army soon recognized that its famous helmet was better suited to the parade square than the front lines. The following year, the Pickelhaube was gradually withdrawn from service and replaced with a larger and more protective steel pot-style helmet, known as the M1916 Stahlhelm. Beginning in 1916, the Pickelhaube was slowly replaced by the Stahlhelm. After the adoption of the Stahlhelm, the Pickelhaube was reduced to limited ceremonial wear by senior officers away from the war zones. With the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, the Pickelhaube ceased to be part of the military uniform.
