Leather helmet with spike (“spiked helmet”) of Mecklenburg troops

• leather and brass
• after 1870
• height: 23.0 cm

The standing military contingent from Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz were incorporated into the confederation of the Prussian Army in autumn 1867. This signalled the end of Mecklenburg’s independence from a military perspective. The military structure thus hurried ahead with the “unification from above,” which was implemented in 1871. From then on autonomy was reduced to uniform insignia such as the Mecklenburg coat of arms on the spiked helmet and the designation “Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg.”

The Mecklenburg Foundation acquired the helmet in 1991 from a private collector in Lübeck.