Check Out This Headgear.

The Tietje Brothers - Heinrich Jr., Karl, Gustav

When Kerstin sent along this photo of Heinrich Tietje's three sons, all dressed up in uniforms and with the rather unusual looking helmets, at least to my eyes, I decided that I wanted to know more about this. Were all of the brothers in the military? Well, it's all intriguing, so I set out to find out what I could about each of the helmets and uniforms.  All of them seem to pre-date World War I.

On the far left is Heinrich Tietje Jr. in his Pelmutze.  This helmet was used by the military from 1850 to about 1915.  From reading about it here, this helmet resembles greatly the example of the 1897 infantry pattern with the flap of cloth on the right side.   These helmets were made most often of very tight, black dyed seal hair stretched upon a frame of bamboo on top and corrugated, stiffened burlap on the bottom.  The oval object at the top front was a cloth covered wooden badge and the colors of it would indicate the area/province/state represented by this soldier.  It was called a Feldzeichen. (Notice that Karl also has the oval badge on his helmet.) For parades, plumes would be added to this badge. Heinrich's uniform also resembles closely those of the Husaren Regiments.

In the center is Karl, wearing a helmet called a Tschako, probably from around 1900-1915.  This type of helmet had been worn by German soldiers from the time of the Napoleonic Wars.  Usually it was worn by Jager, Telegraph or Aviation troops and for awhile the Train Supply troops wore it, as well.  The eagle on the front dates this helmet around 1915, according to this source. To me, the uniform looks most like the Prussian Guard, Jager Battalion.

Gustav is standing on the right with my favorite helmet – the pickelhaube. (Pickel for “point” and haube for “hat or bonnet.”)  The pickelhaube was worn in the 19^th and 20^th centuries by the German military and sometimes firefighters and police.  It was first used by the Prussian infantry in 1842. 

 
The hat is made of hardened, boiled leather with a metal spike at the crown.  The ornamental front plate, usually with an eagle, helps to date the helmets.  Even into World War I, these helmets were used at first, but it didn’t take long for the military to realize that they offered little or no protection to the soldier from flying shrapnel and worse yet, the spike acted like a target in the trenches for the enemy!  By September 1915, new helmets were ordered – steel helmets.  However, the pickelhaube was a desired trophy for enemy soldiers,especially the British, to keep as souvenirs, so with that knowledge, the German soldiers often booby trapped their old helmets.  Well, you can imagine the rest…  Read more about the pickelhaube here.

I really am only guessing as to years and the specific military units connected with these uniforms. Maybe a reader can set me straight.  I still wonder why the three sons were posing, the year of the photo, and the involvement in the military, if any, they had.  Another family history mystery!

This post originally appeared on another of my blogs in 2011.