German WWI Prussian Reserve Medical Officer’s Pickelhaube

A magnificent all-leather pickelhaube for a Prussian medical officer, identified to Dr. Med. Carl Rohde. The gilt is bright and mint, with the reserve officer’s cross in silver on the front plate. Standard flat chin scales retain all gilt. Officers’ quality national and state cockades present. The front and back peaks are slightly distorted from storage in a heated area, but stitching remains strong and secure.

The interior features a mid-tan leather sweatband with scalloped upper edge showing minimal wear and a silk inner lining. The skull bears the maker’s mark ‘W.S.H. Marke’ with a German tricolor flag and size ‘58½’. The wearer’s name, ‘Rohde,’ is hand-applied in pencil inside the skull.

The helmet is housed in a top hat box, fitting perfectly when inverted. The inner lid has a label reading ‘Dr. Med. Carl Rohde’ with the same name hand-applied to the exterior in two places. The box retains a Cassel Railway Station label, though the leather closing tab is broken. The skull has aged to a matt finish, typical of long-term storage. Notably, the spike is exceptionally tall, perhaps the tallest we have seen on any Prussian helmet.

Ref; 85710