There’s something very special about Pickelhaube. While many think they are typically German, this type of helmet was used by a number of countries including Sweden and several in South America. Gloriously impractical, they were designed in part to add authority and dignity to the wearer. I have as yet made no serious attempt to research my pickelhaube, but there are lots of sites covering military pickelhaube, though none as yet that I have found devoted solely to those used by the police (except Radecke below).
An excellent reference for those interested in pickelhaubes and their subsequent replacement by the tschako can be found in the four books written by Erich Radecke. Sadly for those who don’t read German there isn’t an English translation (that I know of), but even with no German I think you can get the gist by looking at the pictures which are a treasure in themselves.
His four books are:
Geschichte des Polizei-Tschakos (Von der Alten Armee zur Polizei)
Polizei Abzeichen (Helme – Heraldik – Historie) : Volume 1 – bis 1918; Volume 2 – 1918 – 1945; Volume 3 – 1945 – 1993.
I’m lucky enough to have 3 Pickelhauben. Two are Prussian, from Berlin and the Rheinland, while the third seems to be Swedish. If you recognise it as something else please let me know, I’d be delighted to hear from you. The example below left can be found in Radecke’s Geschichte des Polizei-Tschakos, p36, Abb.11: ‘Helm der kommunalen Exekutivpolizei in Prussen ab 1894 bis 1918, teilweise noch bis April 1923 entnobilitiert.’ The example on the right is from the Prussian Rheinprovinz, but may be Feuerwehr or Polizei. I’m not sure.
These are my two Prussian Picklehauben in their ‘natural environment’, aka my display cabinet. The gallery of images (including my Swedish example) can be found below. The dagger in the nearground is Kriegsmarine. Bahnpolizei schild to the foreground. Eichbaum Pilsner ‘hunting horn’ glass and a pewter model Royal Irish Constabulary Constable in marching order completes the ensemble. There are various reflections to the foreground as the back of the case is mirrored and you will find them in a new gallery over the next few weeks.
