helmet of a Zahlmeister in the Prussian Army.

The construction of the helmet is the same as those worn by officers with the addition of a small, gilded eagle at the bottom of the Wappen. The Beampte-Adler was adopted in 1905 for officers in administration. This helmet has a pearl ring at the base of the spike, a feature found on officer’s helmets, and star headed studs in a round spike base. This leads me to think this was probably the helmet of a paymaster in an infantry unit, rather than a mounted unit as the mounted units had a cruciform base for the spike

The right side of the helmet shows that there is no National Kockard under the chin strap mount, it is my understanding that this is because the Zahlmeister was a Prussian official, not an Imperial German official. I would like anyone who knows better to correct me.

The Prussian Kockard is barely visible under the chin strap mount. It is painted black with an applied silver ring in place of the normal white ring found on an enlisted man’s Kockard. The chin strap is an original, although the brass attachment fittings are a high quality reproduction.

The liner is a typical silk fabric with a leather sweat band. The underside of the visors were commonly painted green under the front and red under the rear visors on officer’s helmets..