Model 1915 Prussian Line Regiments Pickelhaube

Standard Model 1915 pickelhaub made from shaped boiled leather with a gloss-black finish. Fitted with a leather liner, leather chinstrap with a pair of zinc-plated iron buckles; a shortened, removeable zinc-plated iron spike attached to a baseplate rivetted to the helmet crown; a zinc-plated pressed iron Prussian coat of arms plate, and a black and white rosette underlying the chinstrap lugs. The front vizor is lined with a zinc-plated band.

The specific history of this pickelhaube is unknown, apart from the fact that it was part of the Robert Luks collection, who noted that it was collected in France.

This is a simplified version of the picklehaube, introduced in mid to late 1915, to reduce costs (hence the use of zinc-plated iron). The helmet spike was made removeable by the introduction of a pair of lugs on the base plate and a matching pair of bayonet style slots in the spike ; this was done to reduce the conspicuous height of the spike in trench warfare. This example carries the Prussian design of helmet plate, and the Prussian colours of black and white on the rosette.

As a protection against shrapnel, the pickelhaube was woeful. This simplified 1915 version had a relatively short life, being superceded in early to mid 1916 by the new steel helmets.