# German World War I helmets **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-world-war-i-helmets/499424 "2009-06-11T06:01:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-world-war-i-helmets/499424/1 "2009-06-11T06:01:33Z")
Why did German World War I soldiers’ helmets have an upward spike on top? Was this kind of helmet used exclusively by the infantry? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-world-war-i-helmets/499424/2 "2009-06-11T06:27:20Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Why did German World War I soldiers’ helmets have an upward spike on top? Was this kind of helmet used exclusively by the infantry? I think the one with the spike was ceremonial, other than seeing it on Colonel Klinks desk on hogans heros, the only other one I have noticed actually wearing it was chancilor bismarck. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-world-war-i-helmets/499424/3 "2009-06-11T06:33:29Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Was this kind of helmet used exclusively by the infantry? There’s a [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickelhaube)on it: > [@](#): > > The Pickelhaube (plural Pickelhauben; from the old German Pickel = “point” or “pickaxe”, and Haube = “bonnet”, a general word for headgear) was a spiked helmet worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by German military, firefighters, and police. It is most closely associated with the Prussian army. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-world-war-i-helmets/499424/4 "2009-06-11T06:42:14Z")
It was a relic of an earlier era of warfare (remember the British with their red coats and silly fur hats?). The German [Picklhaube](http://www.kaisersbunker.com/pe/index.htm) was introduced in 1842. It worked well enough until the start of WWII, when a combination of a) it was found to be useless in trench warfare and b) it was expensive to manufacture meant that its days were numbered. It looks like it was pretty [universal in the German Army](http://www.kaisersbunker.com/pt/). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-world-war-i-helmets/499424/5 "2009-06-11T09:27:28Z")
Previous threads on topic: [What was the point of a Picklhaube?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=408863) [So if not the Vikings, then who did wear helmets with horns? Anyone?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=279550) [Why the “Spkie” on old style military helmets?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-482266.html) [Pointy German helmets](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-69776.html) [Pointy Prussian Helmets](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-36010.html) ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-world-war-i-helmets/499424/6 "2009-06-11T18:50:30Z")
My high school history teacher told me it was so people don’t jump on you from behind. Sounds like a pretty good reason, although a knife in the neck or a bullet in the back would have done the trick as well. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-world-war-i-helmets/499424/7 "2009-06-11T20:17:58Z")
It was just the style at the time, like wearing an onion on your belt.