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Concept
Pickelhaube
Summary
The Pickelhaube (pl. Pickelhauben; from Pickel, and Haube, bonnet, a general word for "headgear"), also Pickelhelm, is a spiked leather or metal helmet that was worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Prussian and German military officers, firefighters and police. Although it is typically associated with the Prussian Army, which adopted it in 1842–43, the helmet was widely imitated by other armies during that period. It is still worn today as part of ceremonial wear in the militaries of certain countries, such as Sweden, Chile, and
Colombia.
During the 1830s, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia decided to replace the shako infantry caps. For this, he commissioned General Lev Ivanovich Kiel, a member of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, to design the new headdress for the Russian infantry. The new headwear was inspired by the leather helmet worn by the Russian cuirassiers, with the plumed crest being replaced by a pointed ornament in the shape of a flaming grenade.
The origins of the Prussian helmet began with a visit to Russia by Prince Charles of Prussia in 1837. During the visit, the Tsar presented Charles with the new helmet, which was still in its project stage. The Prince liked the idea, and upon returning to Berlin he proposed it to his father, King Frederick William III of Prussia. The King, however, did not approve of the helmet which he considered expensive and unnecessary. After his death in 1840, the new king Frederick William IV approved his younger brother's idea, and the Prussian army officially adopted the spiked helmet in 1842, thus ahead of the Russian project which was still being worked on.
Frederick William IV introduced the Pickelhaube for use by the majority of Prussian infantry on 23 October 1842 by a royal cabinet order. The use of the Pickelhaube spread rapidly to other German principalities. Oldenburg adopted it by 1849, Baden by 1870, and in 1887, the Kingdom of Bavaria was the last German state to adopt the Pickelhaube (since the Napoleonic Wars, they had had their own design of helmet called the Raupenhelm, a Tarleton helmet).
Official source
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