I have for the last six weeks been on a pickelhaube theme, as you will have noticed. And, kept the best for last as for this theme to go out with a bang, not a whimper. So, I saved this for the seventh helmet Tuesday…
Of course, this is not a pickelhaube, it has no spike, instead it has a mortarboard on top, a shape that goes several hundred years back to the legendary polish cavalry. Tschapka is a Slavic word, not originally German.
Now, this is not just a Ulan Tschapka, it is a Garde Ulan Tschapka. On the breast of the Prussian eagle Wappen (frontplate) is the Garde emblem, a star with the legend Suum Cuique, which is Latin and means “To each his own.”
The style of the Wappen shows this to be a helmet for either the 1st or 3rd Garde Ulanen Regiments, based in Potsdam. They saw plenty of action during WWI, both on the western and eastern fronts.
The small wooden button on the mortarboard is there to secure a cord, a fangschnur, which was fastened with a loop, then tied around the base of the mortarboard and then fastened around the wearers neck. This to avoid loosing the helmet. Still, one can imagine them riding through woods, and the words “Died a hero’s death, honorably strangled by his helmet, for the fatherland” leap to mind…
The Ulan were legendary, and I know from eyewitness accounts that the British both respected and feared them. I have been told (though have no sources to back it up) that the brits sometimes would report they had fought Ulans no matter what cavalry forces they fought, so more battles with the Ulans were reported than were actually fought. I do not know whether this is true, but would not be surprised.
The helmet has no date stamp, but it has been manufactured pre-WWI or early war as it has the fixed mortarboard. In 1915, just as the pickelhaube got removable spikes, the Tschapka model 1915 had a removable mortarboard. It has the leather chinstrap for field use, and not the chinscales, so I would think it has seen use.
So, without further ado: enjoy.
