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picture for a moment an imperial german soldier of the first world war chances are the teutonic
trench dweller you've just conjured in your mind's eye where's on his head a distinctive and rather
bizarre piece of kit a close-fitting glossy black helmet covered in shiny brass fittings
and sporting a large prominent spike protruding out of the top known as a pickle hull this helmet
has become an iconic artifact of the great war used by propagandists on both sides to symbolize
german militarism and barbarism but who created the pickle hull what function did its signature
spike serve and what caused it to suddenly disappear from the battlefield after more than
70 years of service well tighten your chin straps as we dive into the fascinating history of modern
military headgear the name pickle harb derives from the german words pickle for pickaxe and hull
for bonnet or hat the pickle harb was invented in 1842 by king friedrich wilhelm iv of prussia who
is believed to have based his design on earlier napoleonic era helmets worn by quiracies or
heavy cavalry and dragoons troops who rode to the battlefield on horseback but dismounted to fight
on foot these helmets feature tall metal crests designed to deflect blows from sabers and other
edged weapons and which could be fitted with fur feather or horse hair plumes for ceremonial and
parade duties unlike its predecessors however the pickle hub was crafted not from metal but from
leather which was boiled to harden it and given multiple coats of black varnish and instead of
a crest the new helmet sported a metal spike which served the same function of deflecting
sword blows while far lighter than the helmets which inspired it the first model pickle harb was
less than an ideal design with troops finding the helmet unwieldy to wear and difficult to
keep in place especially in windy conditions but friedrich wilhelm had grown irrationally
attached to his creation and refused to allow any modifications even suggesting that troops store
their mesquites inside the helmet's absurdly tall bell the king's eccentric helmet design
attracted a great deal of mockery both outside of and within germany with an 1842 sterical poem
titled germany a winter's tale by heinrich hein comparing the iconic spike to a lightning rod
it reads yes yes i like the helmet it demonstrates the loftiest wit a kinly inspiration it was
complete with point and tip i'm just afraid a storm will come and only to easily hit that
romantic crown of yours with a fancy lightning blitz in 1857 friedrichville helms up at a series
of strokes and was declared unfit to rule so his brother wilhelm took over as prince regent that
same year an improved version of the pickle harb was introduced with a shorter more form-fitting
bell this model was far better regarded by the troops and would serve as the template for all
subsequent pickle harborn over the following seven decades nonetheless the original 1842 design
proved surprisingly influential in 1844 sweden and relakia also adopted the pickle hub well
in 1847 the british household cavalry dragoons and dragoon guards adopted their own version
known as the albert helmet after albert prince consort to queen victoria unlike his germanic
cousin this helmet was made not of leather but of stiffened cloth over a cork framework and
featured a much smaller spike the united states army and marine corps would later adopt their own
version of the albert helmet for full dress from 1881 and 1902 while the original pickle harbors
even thought to have inspired the iconic custodian helmet traditionally worn by
british police officers or bobbies in january 1871 prussia defeated france in the franco-prussian war
and a unified german empire was created surely thereafter prince regens wilhelm now emperor
or kaiser wilhelm the first issued an imperial declaration making the pickle hull the standard
helmet of the german military and police forces the helmet has evolved significantly from its
original 1842 configuration and would continue to do so over the following decades with several
different models being produced in an effort to reduce manufacturing time and cost the definitive
model was introduced in 1895 and consisted of three main parts a basic bowl shaped shell made by
pressing leather into a concave mold and a front and rear leather visor sewn onto the shell these
pieces were boiled to harden them painted with several coats of black lacquer and polished to a
mirror shine the joins between the shell and the visors were then reinforced with two brass trim
pieces on the front and a brass spine running down the rear of the helmet the front of the helmet
bore an elaborate gilded brass crest indicating the wearer's unit or region of origin the most
common being the spread-winged eagle emblem of prussia the attachment points for the leather
trin strap also featured bullseye shaped cockades the right hand cockade bearing the imperial colors
red white and black and the left hand cocaine the colours of the wearer's home state for example
white and black for pressure and white and blue for bavaria finally there was the pickle harb's
most distinctive feature its large cylindrical spike which by 1895 was mostly hollow and
featured adjustable holes at its base to improve ventilation to the wearer's head for parade use
the spike could be unscrewed and replaced with a cup-shaped device called a trichter which
held a long ceremonial horsehair plume the colour of this plume also varied according to
the wearer's rank and unit while officers of most units wore a white or black plume musicians the
bavarian artillery and the saxon guard wore a red plume while wilhelm the first 1871 declaration had
made the basic pickle hob stand across the german armed forces there were still numerous exceptions
and variations artilleryman for instance wore a version with a ball-shaped finial called a
kugelhelm ohlins all lancers continued to wear the traditional square top kapka helmet and
elite jaeger troops and machine gunners wore stiff cylindrical chatchco caps based on the napoleonic
shackle an all-metal pickle harb was also produced for use by kurasias and often appears in portraits
of high-ranking military officers such as otto von bismarck chancellor of the german empire
this style of pickle harb was often nicknamed the lobster tail helmet due to its distinctive jointed
metal neck guard while commonly associated with imperial germany the pickle hub was adopted by
dozens of countries worldwide including russia portugal norway sweden argentina bolivia chile
ecuador jordan mexico peru romania thailand and venezuela the popularity of the helmet
in latin america was due to the widespread use of prussian military advisors to organize and
train these countries as armed forces in the late 19th and early 20th centuries indeed this
germanic influence is still felt to this day with many ceremonial units such as the chilean
color guard the swedish lifeguards the portuguese national republican guard the romanian john domery
and the colombian presidential guard battalion continuing to wear the pickle hard while on parade
yet despite its popularity the pickle hob suffered from a major floor its polished brass or silver
fittings made it highly visible on the battlefield turning the wearer into an obvious target thus in
1892 a light brown cloth cover called the uberzoog was introduced for use on maneuvers or in combat
as the uberzook covered the pickle hubs identifying brass plate regimental numbers
were instead sewn or stenciled in red and later green on the front of the cover the distinctive
spike was also often removed while in combat to further reduce visibility while the shiny brass
fittings were later given a dull oxidized finish to cut down on glare yet all these modifications
proved no match for the industrialized meat grind that was the first world war within a
year of the conflict breaking out in august 1914 the british enabled blockade to completely cut
germany off from its supply of argentine leather that was needed to manufacture the pickle harbin
german industry was thus forced to come up with a variety of ursats or imitation helmets made of
lacquered tin pressed felt and even cardboard to keep up with demand but by this point the pickle
hob's days were already numbered while popularly associated with the rifle and the machine gun
the first world war was first and foremost an artillery war with a full 60 of combat casualties
being caused by shelter and with soldiers bodies being largely protected behind trench walls the
majority of artillery inflicted wounds were to the head the bald leather pickle harb designed
to deflect saber blows offered little protection against shell fragments and shrapnel bulls
soldiers of other nations spared even worse having marched into battle not in helmets but
simply in cloth hats like the french keppy and the british service dress cap with head injuries
mounting at an alarming rate the belligerent nation soon began casting about for a more
effective means of protecting their troops the first nation to issue a protective helmet was
france which in december 1914 introduced a simple steel skull cap designed to be worn under the
standard cloth cappy designed by intended general louis auguste edriore the cap weighed only 250
grams and proved remarkably effective reducing severe head injuries by up to 70 percent over 700
000 were manufactured and issued until march 1915 however the device had a major flaw when struck by
a bullet or high velocity shell fragment the metal of the close-fitting skull cap tended to bend
inwards and penetrate the wearer's skull allowing the often mud-soaked cloth from their keppy to
enter the wound and cause infections thus in early 1915 the french general staff ordered
the development of an improved helmet its design once again attributed to general adrion officially
adopted in the spring of 1915 the adrian helmet consisted of a bowl-shaped steel shell with a long
curved front visor and a stamped sheet metal crest running along its crown a stamped metal
crest could be riveted to the front to indicate the wearer's service branch a flaming grenade
for infantry and cavalry a bugle for the elite chasseurs crossed cannon barrels for the artillery
and so on while a complicated design requiring more than 70 forming and riveting operations to
manufacture the adrian was cheap to manufacture weighed only 750 grams and provided more than
adequate protection against shell fragments on the battlefield nearly 20 million were produced
by the end of the war the design being widely adopted by other countries including belgium italy
russia poland spain greece and the united states interestingly the helmet may have provided its
ware as more protection than general adrian had originally intended a 2020 study conducted by a
team from duke university discovered that compared to modern combat helmets the 105 year old design
offered far superior protection against overhead explosive blast waves and affect the research
as a tribute to the adrian's helmet's distinctive raised crest the second nation to field a standard
combat helmet was great britain which in september 1915 introduced the brody helmet invented by
latvian-born entrepreneur john leopold brody based on the medieval kettle hat or chappelle de fur
the brody helmet featured a shallow bowl with wide brim which could be easily stamped from a single
sheet of metal in a single operation this made the brodie considerably stronger than the adrial
helmet though at one kilogram it was slightly heavier the brodie helmet's main innovation
however was its liner earlier helmets like the adrian fit closely to the wearer's head meaning
that impacts from high velocity shell fragments were transmitted directly to the skull leading
to concussions and other brain injuries brody's liner by contrast maintained a one centimeter
gap between the wearer's head and the helmet shell this combined with the mild steel shell's
tendency to dent rather than to rip under impact saved many a british soldier from severe injury
including victoria cross winner alf pollard who wrote it for january 1917 against the german-held
town of grancore quote something hit me in the center of my forehead and i went down like a log
for a moment i lay stunned i recovered my steel helmet there was a dent in the center of it the
size of an orange i went back into the road a shell burst just behind me and a splinter hit
me on the back of the head making a second dent a few months earlier pollard had gotten into an
argument with a fellow soldier over whether the brody helmet could deflect a pistol shot to prove
his point pollard fired his 445 caliber service revolver at a helmet from a ranger 25 yards the
bullet dented the shell but did not penetrate but like all combat helmets before and since the brody
was not designed to stop a full power rifle bullet and could easily be penetrated even at extreme
ranges however under certain conditions the helmet could and did deflect glancing shots and ricochets
and on certain occasions bullets were reported to have entered one side of the helmet followed
the inside curve of the shell and exited the other side without touching the wearer's head presumably
said wearer then immediately proceeded to the quartermaster to obtain a change of trousers
yet despite its effectiveness the brody helmet was received with some skepticism by the troops and
was initially issued on a per requirement bassist sentries trench raiders grenade throwers and
other specialized troops soon however the protection offered by the new headgear became
widely recognized and by 1916 the helmet was standard issue for all british empire soldiers
a popular and effective design in various forms the brodie would remain in service with britain
into the 1960s and with the united states from 1917 to 1942 when it was replaced by the equally
iconic m1 helmet though germany was the first belligerent nation to recognize the need for a
standardized productive helmet it was the last to adopt one in 1915 general hans gade commander of
army detachment b in the french vosses mountains became alarmed at the high number of head wounds
his men were receiving when his official requests for a solution fell on deaf ears gade took matters
into his own hands and designed his own protective helmet 1 500 of which were privately manufactured
and distributed to his troops gade's helmet consisted of a leather skull cap with a thick
steel plate covering the forehead and nose the area where the majority of shrapnel wounds
were inflicted while heavy and only moderately effective gade's initiative prompted the general
staff to authorize the development of an official protective helmet to replace the pickle hob
which would eventually become known as the style helm or steel helmet based on the medieval silent
helmet and nicknamed the coal scuttle the stalheim featured a deep bell with a short
visor and a large flared rear skirt providing excellent protection to the wearer's forehead
is a neck early versions were designed to use chin straps from the pickle hob and
featured a pair of hollow tubular horns protruding from the temples these horns serve two functions
first to increase ventilation and second to serve as an attachment point for the stern panzer
a thick armored brow plate designed for use by snipers machine gunners sentries and other troops
exposed to direct enemy fire the stern panzer was often issued with a 9 kilogram set of segmented
armor plates covering the chest and abdomen colloquially known as lobster armor however this
armor was heavy and unwieldly and offered only limited protection against bullets and was thus
often quickly discarded by the troops who were issued it first entering service during the battle
of adon in early 1916 by the end of the year the stalheim was standard issue for all german troops
almost completely supplanting the venerable pickle harb however many officers continued
to wear the pickle harb until the very end of the war albeit with the spike removed to avoid making
themselves obvious targets for enemy snipers but by 1918 the pickle hobbed disappeared altogether
with even german police units abandoning it in favor of the chaco the style heim by contrast
proved itself to be a robust and effective design and with various modifications would continue to
serve the armies of germany and several other countries throughout the second world war
and into the 1970s though by 1916 it had largely been replaced by the stalheim the pickle hull
remained a potent symbol of german militarism throughout the war widely used by propagandists
on both sides in one particularly unsubtle recruitment poster created by artist harry r
hopps for the u.s army in 1917 a gorilla sporting a pickle-hall kaiser mustache and a club imbasant
with the words culture carries off a half-naked damsel accompanied by the exhortation destroy
this mad brute as a result of its propaganda uses the pickle became a popular souvenir
for ontart forces with many soldiers being photographed with picklehauben liberated from
captured german positions even today the iconic spiked helmet remains an instantly recognizable
symbol of germany with plastic versions even being produced for german soccer fans during the 2006
fifa world cup but though it served for over 70 years and filled its wearers with martial pride
the flimsy pickle hall proved no match for the bud blood and withering shellfire of the great
war by 1918 it had vanished from the battlefield along with cavalry charges bayonet assaults
giant pitched naval battles and all the other vestiges of a bygone age of gentlemanly warfare
you