Baden One Year Volunteer Foot Artillery Pickelhaube
Above: Generally speaking, only Foot Artillery Officer Pickelhaube have flat chin scales and enlistedmen wore leather chin straps. That is true statements, mostly… After 1887 this is a true statement. From 1882-1887 Foot Artillery Enlistedmen did wear flat chin scales. So, with the old 1871 pattern Pickelhaube, for five years, you could get a flat chin scale Foot Artillery enlitedman’s pickelhaube…but that is not quite what I have here. The reason is that the only Baden Foot artillery Regiment, Number 14 was not raised until 1893. But there is still an explanation. The Pickelhaube is marked with a card to a One Year Volunteer of Baden Field Artillery Regiment 14. I believe, considering the consistent patina on all the brass parts that this was a FAR 14 One Year Volunteer Pickelhaube that was sold to another One Year Volunteer in the Baden Foot Artillery Regiment 14, and he simply changed the chin strap from convex to flat. One Year Volunteers of Foot Artillery Regiments could wear chinscales and they would be flat. He also just left the old card glued to the interior of the helmet. That’s my theory anyway. One other odd thing about this Pickelhaube is that a hole was drilled into the body right above the crown of the griffin. Maybe it was made into a lamp at one time?
Above: Baden One Year Volunteer of Foot Artillery Regiment 14 Pickelhaube, showing a Baden cockade on the left side
Above: Baden One Year Volunteer of Foot Artillery Regiment 14 Pickelhaube showing a national cockade on the right side
Above and Below: Baden One Year Volunteer of Foot Artillery Regiment 14 Pickelhaube with the spine visible. It has no vent as is correct for artillery Pickelhaube before 1915
All images, research, and text are sole property of Ralph Lovett.