Circa 1910. Pickelhaube for Adjutant-General, circa 1910. Black leather helmet in execution similar to that of Prussian generals à la suite, complete with silver-plated fittings. Large Garde eagle with motto "Mit Gott für Koenig und Vaterland" (With God for King and Fatherland), with applied high-domed silver star, in the center the gilt Lippe rose. Cross-shaped front plate with silver-plated star screws and tall fluted spike. Domed genuine silver scale chin chain with silver-plated rosettes, both cockades, on the left the yellow/red/yellow state cockade for Lippe. Interior with light sweatband and pink silk lining, inside with large label "von Malachowski Flügeladjutant d. Fürsten zur Lippe" (von Malachowski Adjutant-General to the Prince of Lippe), the front visor lined in green, the rear visor lined in red. Inside the sweatband an old inventory number "R 59". The helmet shows clear signs of wear, on top of the helmet 2 small holes in the helmet shell.
The saddle cloth made of dark blue wool with wide surrounding silver braid, in the rear corners applied silver princely crown above the Lippe rose. Typical signs of use and age, condition 2. Additionally the dispatch case of brown leather, on the flap gold-embossed princely crown above "Fürstlicher Flügeladjutant" (Princely Adjutant-General). Also included 3 invitation cards for a gala dinner at the Princely Residence Palace as well as a letter sheet for Adjutant-General Colonel von Malachowski.

Extremely rare, we know of no other estate of a Princely Lippe Adjutant-General.

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Lippe-Detmold Pickelhaube, Saddle Cloth and Dispatch Case from the Estate of Adjutant-General Colonel von Malachowski

This collection represents one of the rarest survivals of court militaria from the German Empire: the personal equipment of a Flügeladjutant to the Prince of Lippe. The Principality of Lippe was one of the smallest sovereign states of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, with a population of approximately 150,000. Located between the Weser river and the Teutoburg Forest in northwestern Germany, the principality had its capital at Detmold. Leopold I became the first Prince of Lippe in 1789 when the territory was elevated from a county to a principality.

During the Imperial period, Lippe maintained only minimal military forces. After 1867, it was integrated into the Prussian Army system, with Lippe soldiers serving mainly in the 55th (6th Westphalian) Infantry Regiment. Nevertheless, Lippe retained its court structure and princely prerogatives. The period around 1910, from which these items date, fell during the reign of Leopold IV, who ruled from 1905 to 1918. He came from the Lippe-Biesterfeld branch and would be the last reigning Prince of Lippe.

The position of Flügeladjutant was far more than an ordinary staff officer posting. A Flügeladjutant was not simply a staff officer; it was a sovereign's personal aide-de-camp, an officer who moved within the ruler's immediate orbit, handling communications, escort duties, scheduling, and ceremonial duties. Such court appointments were operational instruments of proximity, access, and authority in the German princely states, where these positions carried significant prestige despite Lippe's small size and limited military power.

The bearer documented here was Oberst von Malachowski, as indicated by the label inside the helmet reading “von Malachowski Flügeladjutant d. Fürsten zur Lippe” (von Malachowski, Flügeladjutant to the Prince of Lippe). The von Malachowski family was a notable Prussian military family. Research documents that Karl Friedrich Adolph von Malachowski und Griffa (1783-1844), a Prussian Generalleutnant, served as Flügeladjutant to King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia from 1816. The Lippe Flügeladjutant Oberst von Malachowski appears to be from the same distinguished military family and served Prince Leopold IV.

The Pickelhaube itself represents a rare variant for Flügeladjutanten of the Prince of Lippe, executed in a style similar to Prussian general à la suite helmets but with Lippe-specific heraldic elements. The black leather helmet features silvered metal fittings, including a large garde eagle bearing the motto “Mit Gott für Koenig und Vaterland” (With God for King and Fatherland), superimposed with a high-domed silver star featuring the gilt Lippische Rose (Lippe Rose) at its center. The yellow-red-yellow state cockade on the left side clearly identifies the affiliation with Lippe. The genuine silver scale chin chain, pink silk lining, and green-lined front visor with red-lined rear visor underscore the courtly character of this headgear.

The shabraque, a cavalry saddle cloth of dark blue wool with broad silver braid border, served ceremonial and parade purposes for mounted duties. At the rear corners it displays the silver princely crown over the Lippische Rose. The dispatch case of brown leather, with a gold-stamped princely crown over the inscription “Fürstlicher Flügeladjutant” (Princely Flügeladjutant), was used for carrying official correspondence.

Production quantities for Flügeladjutant equipment from small German states like Lippe were extremely limited. Such items were not plates made by the tens of thousands for annual intake, but rather in comparatively limited numbers for a narrow slice of officers whose roles were elite by definition. The auction house notes: “Extremely rare, no other estate of a princely Lippische Flügeladjutant is known to us.”

The Principality of Lippe came to an end on November 12, 1918, with the abdication of Leopold IV following Germany's defeat in World War I. The principality became the Free State of Lippe within the Weimar Republic. In 1947, Lippe was merged into the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The position of Flügeladjutant ceased to exist with the end of the monarchy in 1918. These items survived as a personal estate collection and eventually entered the militaria collectors market, where they are recognized as an exceptional survival of historical significance.