Original Saxon WWI Saxon Garde Reiter 1st Royal Saxon Guards Heavy Cavalry Officer’s Helmet with Correct Cockades & Partial Liner - Rare
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Original Item. Only One Available. The 1st Royal Saxon Guards Heavy Cavalry (Garde-Reiter-Regiment (1. Schweres Regiment)) was a heavy cavalry of the Royal Saxon Army. Established in 1680 as a cuirassiers unit, the regiment fought in the Battle of Vienna (1683), the Nine Years' War, the War of the Spanish Succession, the Silesian Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, the Austro-Prussian War, the Franco-Prussian War and World War I. The regiment was disbanded in 1919.
This is an extremely scarce “lobster tail” helmet for an officer of the 1st Royal Saxon Guards Heavy Cavalry, which saw heavy fighting during the First World War. This helmet likely dates to around the turn of the 20th century. The brass body is in good order without any heavy denting, and the front Wappen plate is well-retained and entirely correct for the helmet. This example also retains the scarce National (red, white, and black) cockade as well as the Saxon (white and green) state cockade. They are held in place by the original leather chinscales straps but as shown, the vast majority of the chinscales are gone, and a good amount of the leather strap is also deteriorated. The clover-shaped posts at each end of the chinscales are retained. The original spike still unscrews to be removed, and removing it shows the original silver plating that the spike base once had.
The original lining is almost entirely gone, with small bits and pieces still inside but ones that hang when the helmet is right-side up. There are no markings on the interior that we can see. The underside of the front visor originally had full leather covering, but only some of it is retained.
An outstanding example, the first 1st Royal Saxon Guards Heavy Cavalry helmet we have ever offered. Comes ready for further research and display.
Kürassier (Heavy Cavalry)
Metalhelme 1843 - 1915
The distinctive steel helmets of the Preußen Kürassier and the Sachsen (Saxon) Schweres Reiter first appeared in 1843 for the Preußen Kürassier, replacing the tall leather helmet that was worn up to that time. The M1843 Metalhelme (a helmet made from polished steel or Tombak) was large and heavy with a pronounced stepped-brim over the forehead and a distinctive "lobster tail" neck guard, both of which served to protect the wearer from sword blows.
The helmets were made from polished steel with brass fittings, or Tombak (an alloy made from a combination of copper and zinc) with German silver fittings.Convex brass chinscales were worn by all ranks and were secured to the helmet with a 3cm threaded bolt with a brass head. The chinscales did not hook together and required the use of the small leather strap behind the chinscales to keep them together when not worn under the chin.
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