{"product_id":"preussen-garde-infantry-officer-pickelhaube-guard-star-plate-original","title":"Preussen Garde Infantry Officer Pickelhaube Guard Star Plate Original","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is an original Prussian (Preussen) Guard infantry officer’s spiked helmet, or Pickelhaube (spiked helmet), of the late Imperial pattern. The front plate is the Garde-Adler (Guard eagle): a large gilt heraldic eagle with outstretched wings carrying the bandeau MIT GOTT FÜR KÖNIG UND VATERLAND (“With God for King and Fatherland”) across the feathers, with a separately applied silver Gardestern (Guard star) superimposed on the breast. The star’s central medallion bears a Prussian eagle encircled by the motto SUUM CUIQUE (“To each his own”), the legend of the Order of the Black Eagle, the senior Prussian order, from which the Guard drew its distinguishing device. The combination of line eagle and superimposed Guard star is the standard plate of the Prussian Guard, and the gilt-and-silver, two-metal construction marks it as an officer’s piece rather than enlisted issue.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn construction the helmet follows the established officer form. The shell (Korpus) is black-lacquered leather of the high, rounded officer profile. The mounts are gilt brass: a tall, slender fluted spike rises from a round base plate finished with small radiating foliate finials and a beaded pearl ring (Perlring) at the neck, an officer detail. The front visor is the square-cut Prussian shape with a metal trim edge, and a gilt rear spine (Hinterschiene) runs down the back. The chinscales (Schuppenketten) are the flat officer type mounted on rosette bosses. The right-side cockade is the Reichskokarde (national cockade, black-white-red), which places manufacture or wear after its 1897 introduction. The interior retains a brown leather sweatband (Schweissleder), a fabric crown liner with center drawstring, and red leather facing to the underside of the rear visor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorically, the Prussian Guard (Garde) was the crown’s elite establishment, garrisoned principally around Berlin and Potsdam and recruited and appointed with care; a Guard commission carried real social and military prestige. The bulk of the Guard was its infantry — the foot-guard and grenadier regiments — and an officer’s helmet of this branch carried the same Gardestern that set all Guard formations apart from the line regiments, who wore the eagle without the star. A piece of this grade — gilt mounts, silver star, officer liner, pearl-ring base — would have been a privately purchased item, made to a higher standard than the troop pattern and worn for parade and formal duty.\u003cbr\u003eOn translation and attribution: the eagle bandeau reads MIT GOTT FÜR KÖNIG UND VATERLAND, and the star reads SUUM CUIQUE, both rendered above. What the object itself proves is a Prussian Guard infantry plate of officer quality. The Gardestern shown here is the general Guard device worn across Guard infantry and grenadier formations and does not, on its own, identify a single regiment; no specific unit is therefore claimed.\u003cbr\u003eCondition is honest and age-appropriate for a leather helmet now well over a century old. The lacquered surface shows pronounced crazing and crackling across the shell, heaviest around the crown and spike base, with some associated minor lacquer loss; the leather beneath appears sound. The gilt mounts retain good color with handling wear, and the silver Gardestern carries the dark oxidation typical of period silver. In the provided images the rear spine appears to show a small separation or loss at its upper terminal where it meets the spike base, which should be examined closely on receipt. The spike, base, plate, at least one cockade, chinscales, liner, and sweatband are all present, making this a complete example, which is the meaningful point for value. No maker mark is legible in the images supplied.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor the collector, Prussian Guard headgear sits among the most sought categories of Imperial German militaria, and officer examples carrying the silver Gardestern are a clear step above line helmets. Completeness here is the decisive factor: officer Pickelhauben are frequently encountered missing chinscales, cockades, or liners, and an example retaining all of its components remains a centerpiece piece despite the surface crazing. It fits squarely within a Prussia-focused or Guard-focused collection and carries the royal and elite-unit associations that drive demand in this field.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50075864858863,"sku":"04-2000 XMS","price":3995.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/9169\/5855\/files\/04-2000XMS_1.jpg?v=1782932038","url":"https:\/\/derrittmeister.com\/products\/preussen-garde-infantry-officer-pickelhaube-guard-star-plate-original","provider":"Derrittmeister Militaria Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}