Helmets in Croatia

Zagreb City Museum in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia, guest appearance in Zvonimir Gallery, Zagreb


Exhibition concept: Želimir Škoberne, Ivan Ružić
Exhibition design: Ivan Ružić

Associates:

Archaeological Museum of Istria
Archaeological Museum in Zagreb
Trakošćan Castle
Franciscan convent of St. Laurentius in Šibenik
Sisak Municipal Museum
Varaždin Municipal Museum
Croatian History Museum
Zlatko Ivković
Mirko Kukolj
Metropolitan library in Zagreb
Tomislav Muhić
Koprivnica City Museum
Museum of Croatian archaeological monuments in Split
Međimurje Museum
Pogačić Family
Miroslav Poljanec
Srđan Sabljarić
Central Military Archive of the Ministry of Defense
Alojz Šestan
Šestan-Busch Ltd.
Davorin Škrinjar
Military Museum


The earliest helmets in Croatia are related to the Urnfield Culture (13^th – 9^th centuries BC). These are fragments belonging to one of the Bronze Age helmet types (domed, bell-shaped, crested, and a cap-shaped helmet). The changes in the economic system that occurred at the end of the 9^th and beginning of the 8^th centuries BC marked the use of iron. The leading social stratum united economic and military-political force, as is best shown by the princely graves. It is apparent that in the early Iron Age a helmet was the privilege of the military-tribal aristocracy. Helmets of the early Iron Age from Croatia are: bowl-shaped, Illyrian, Corinthian, conical and Negova helmets. The bowl-shaped helmets from Budinjak in the Žumberak region, from tumulus 139 and tumulus 3, enabled an insight into the techniques of production, and a redivision offering more precise dating of these earliest Hallstatt helmets from the 8^th century BC. Now we can distinguish 6 groups of bowl-shaped helmets: Budinjak, Molnik, Brezje, Halltstatt, Šmarjeta, and Libna.

The Illyrian helmets can be classified into three phases: early (late 8^th and 7^th centuries BC), middle (from the late 7^th to the mid 6^th centuries BC), and late (from the mid 6^th to the 4^th century BC). Helmets of this phase were found on the territory of the Illyrian tribes of the Delmatae, Daorsii, Ardiaei, Pleraei, and Enchelei, along the Adriatic.

Conical helmets (end of the 8^th and in the 7^th century BC) have been found at only six sites, two of which are in Croatia (the cemeteries of Picugi and Beram). Three basic phases are distinguished for Corinthian helmets. The first phase began around 700, and the second around 640 BC. The second developmental phase differs because of two variants; the second variant of this phase includes the only Corinthian helmet in Croatia, found in princely grave I, tumulus X at Kaptol near Požega in horizon II of the Martijanec-Kaptol group (7^th century BC). The last phase of Corinthian helmets began between 530 and 525 BC, and continued to around 474 BC.

Negau helmets appeared in the second half of the 6^th century BC in three basic groups: helmets of central Italy (Belmonte, Volterra, and Vetulonia, and ceremonial helmets), the southeastern Apline region (Italo-Slovenian and Slovenian types), and central Alpine helmets (Italo-Alpine and Alpine types). Two examples exist in Croatia, one from Istria and one from the island of Krk; the latter is unique, being made from two pieces. Although it is specific in terms of production, it should be compared stylistically and chronologically to the later variants of the Slovenian type (after the second half of the 5^th century BC). The helmets of the late Iron Age are connected to the Celts, who achieved a peak in the spread of the La Tene culture in the 5^th century BC. Helmets appear then that can be traced to the reign of the first Roman emperor Augustus. The only published example to date of a Celtic helmet in Croatia is from the middle La Tene period, a helmet with a fortified dome (3^rd and 2^nd centuries BC), from a warrior grave discovered at Batina.

The Roman army was exceptionally well organized. The basic equipment of a soldier consisted of helmet, armour, shield, spear or javelin, sword and dagger. The professional Roman army had standardized equipment in state ownership, as is shown by the exhibited helmets with the stamped names of the legionaries who wore them.

The legionaries were equipped with bronze infantry Buggenum type helmets, which came into use in the mid 1^st century BC, remaining to the beginning of the 1^st century AD. Hagenau type helmets originated at the end of the 1^st century BC, and they were in use to the last decades of the 1^st century AD. These helmets were gradually replaced by the iron Weisenau type helmets, and after almost an entire century of parallel use these entirely replaced the others in infantry units. The success of this helmet model is confirmed by its use up to the 3^rd century. The Niederbieber type helmets were in use from the mid 2^nd century and during the 3^rd century, and they were created by the unification of infantry and cavalry equipment. The cavalry helmets used from the beginning of the 1^st century to the early 3^rd century belong to the group known under the name Weiler-Guisborough. Other than these helmets, a rare form of helmet with a conical tip was used in the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries, the Intercisa type. Cavalry parade helmets were used during the parade tournaments called hippika gymnasia, popular from the period of Augustus to the end of the 3^rd century. Luxuriously outfitted cavalrymen competed in simulated battle according to scenes from mythological fights (such as the battle of the Greeks and the Amazons), for which magnificent non-battle equipment was developed, including helmets with visors.

The Early Middle Ages in Europe were determined by the previous existence of the Roman Empire and the penetration of new ethnic groups that had destroyed it. Eight early mediaeval helmets have been found in Croatia, four of which belong to the Baldenheim type. These helmets were worn by members of the military aristocracy. Examples from Croatian sites illustrate the earlier developmental stages. The two helmets from Vid near Metković are undecorated iron late Roman barbarized examples from the 5^th century. Sassanian helmets with four plates divided by strips determined the appearance of the Baldenheim type helmets. The form was borrowed by early Byzantine workshops, increasing the number of strips to six. This is proven by helmets from the 5^th century, found in Egypt, and the find from Narona, the only one known from Europe. At the end of the 5^th century, and during the entire 6^th century, Baldenheim type helmets appear with four or six strips. The helmets found in Croatia are from Narona and Salona. All three helmets are decorated with geometric and figural motifs, including a cross (Narona) and eucharistic symbols (Salona). A helmet from Sinj was made of undecorated iron and is dated to the 6^th century. The exceptional similarities of all helmets of the Baldenheim type in Europe (26 examples) indicates a circle of workshops trained in the production of such luxurious and technologically demanding objects. Early Byzantine workshops with such a tradition may have been located in Ravenna. The helmets were produced during the period of Ostrogothic dominion in northern Italy, and they were distributed throughout Europe by trade, as gifts, or as booty. Thanks to their appearance and undoubted value, they were a symbol of social status in a historical period when conflicts and wars were everyday European occurrences, and the military aristocracy was at the top of the social scale.

An interesting helmet was found by chance in 1969 near Legrad. The helmet is composed of four large plates which were joined, with a extrusion ended by a point on the top. Although the question remains open as to its classification to a given type of early mediaeval helmet, it seems unlikely to belong to the eastern helmet type.

The feudal class consisted of warriors constantly prepared for battle, permanently equipped with a sword, spear, helmet, shield, and chain mail shirt, above which armour gradually developed. At the beginning of the 12^th century, the Norman type helmet with the nose-guard disappeared, and a high helmet with a rounded top appeared, and face protection with a visor was introduced at the end of the 12^th century. The dome of such helmets was rounded, and the visor not merely offered an opening for the eyes, but also ear protection, and neck-guard was also added. In the mid 13^th century, a cylindrical helmet with a flat top, with openings for the eyes and mouth, developed from this, a pot-shaped helmet that we call a helm (French heaume; German Helm). The helm lay on a skull cap of wire and leather or fabric, but the poor quality of the material and the insufficiently thick walls caused serious injuries, and the lack of ventilation and weight, increased by the plume and cover of the helm, caused the warrior to put on the helm only immediately before facing the enemy. The helms caused the spread of coat-of-arms at the end of the 12^th century, since the knight was now faceless, and it was necessary to recognize enemies and allies in a battle or tournament, causing the helm to become a synonym for helmet.

In the mid 14^th century, an under-helmet began to be worn, from which the open helmet evolved, attached to a hood of iron chain mail. With the development of the open helmets from the 13^th century onwards, the nose-guard disappeared and was replaced by the visor. In the second half of the 14^th century, the most chivalric helmet of Alsace-French origin developed from these helmets, the bascinet (Germ. Hundsgugel; Fr. bacinet), which was predominant until ca. 1440.

At the beginning of the 15^th century, a completely closed helmet developed, borne on the shoulders, the large bascinet (Fr. grand bacinet). Northern Italy was the site of the development at the beginning of the 15^th century of a helmet similar to the hats of the period, with an elongated neck-guard, the Italian helmet. A variant of this helmet was simultaneously introduced in Germany, the most popular German medieval helmet, the Schaler or sallet. This shell-like helmet, with mere slits for the eyes or with a visor, was used by German knights right up to the beginnings of the Reformation.

Not much has been preserved from helmets between the 12^th and 15^th centuries, which absolutely does not suggest that our ancestors were peacefully inclined, rather it points to a complete lack of them after the horrific losses of the warrior class of the aristocracy, especially at the battles of Krbava Plain (1493) and Mohacs (1526). It is equally apparent that at the transition from the 14^th to the 15^th centuries the production of protective weaponry became technologically complicated and expensive, financially inaccessible for an aristocracy exhausted in civil war and battles against the Ottoman Empire. The widespread use of the (English) long bow, the cross-bow, and firearms revolutionized warfare as early as the beginning of the 15^th century. Armoured soldiers were no longer sufficiently armoured for European conflicts, and the mobile, lightly equipped troops of the Ottomans sought new means of protection already in use at the beginning of the 16^th century.

The experience of warfare against the Turks was reflected in the equipment in the border regions, and the fashion a la Turca spread from here throughout Europe. Border troops in Croatia, Slavonia, and Hungary were outfitted with a mixture of Turkish and European equipment. The development of helmets from the 16^th to the 18^th centuries can be traced through two basic types; closed and open helmets. The closed helmet protected the entire head, and with the flourishing of the Renaissance, both functionality and comfort were increased. These helmets were worn by heavy cavalry to the second half of the 16^th century.

The helmet of the infantry in the 16^th century was the war-hat, suitable for the hedgehog formation, as the broad rims offered good protection to the crammed soldiers. Even before the 16^th century, the closed helmet was avoided in Spain, when in Italy the aristocracy wore artistically decorated open helmets. Open helmets (Sturmhaube) were in use in France and Germany from 1530, and they were also worn by cavalry on the borders with the Turks. The Turkish cavalry wore helmets with a visor and/or nose-guard up to the 18^th century. This helmet with a reduced dome with a point, known because of this as a šišak, was accepted in use on the Turkish border from the mid 16^th century, and it spread through Europe under the name Zischägge. A neck-guard of metal scales was introduced from the 17^th century, leading to the Croatian term cancer-tailed helmet. The morion spread from Spain in about 1520, created as a redesigning of the infantry war-hat. As rims and visors hindered both bowmen and sharp-shooters, even before the 16^th century, they wore helmets with a narrow rim. Sometimes the dome of these helmets ended in a point like a stem, and they were then called a Birnenhelm. From the 17^th century onwards, the cavalry wore wide hats and uniforms imitating civilian clothing, and helmets were no longer appropriate.

The French Revolution and the development of tactics during the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars caused fundamental changes in warfare, transforming standing mercenary armies into national enlisted armies. Improvements in protective weaponry, inspired by modifications to tactics and improvements in hand-to-hand weapons and firearms, became apparent in the reintroduction of helmets. Helmets did not change in form throughout the 19^th century, up to the beginning of the First World War.

Signs of new lines of development appear as early as 1786 in Russia, and the Austrian army received leather helmets reinforced with brass in 1798. A replacement for the helmet was the csákò, the cloth flat-topped hussar hat, soon to be replaced by a leather version, offering additional protection with metal decorations, gorgets, and plumes. The shako was retained to the end of World War I in the Habsburg Monarchy, it remained in use in Germany up to the First World War, and it is still in use today in France (Fr. képi). The csákò entered French equipment from 1799, and it was accepted by Prussia in 1801, Russia in 1803, Austria in 1808, and Saxony in 1810.

After 1793, French military equipment became the model. The cuiraissiers had iron helmets, and the dragoons and carabineers on horseback had brass helmets with a plume of horsehair in the form of a tail and a crest in the form of a brush. The Austrian armoured troops used metal helmets of this shape, and by order of the Archduke Charles, the commander-in-chief of the Austrian troops, helmets made according to the French model were introduced in 1806. The cavalry of Europe became standardized at this point, divided into: heavy cavalry, armoured cavalry (cuirassiers) supplied with iron or brass helmets, and light cavalry with leather, and more rarely, brass helmets or csákòs, the latter consisting of mounted dragoons and carabineers outfitted with csákò, and ulans with a variant of the helmet-shako called a shapka. The helmet forms used in the heavy cavalry in the 19^th century were retained in guard units even up to the 21^st century (in France and Great Britain), along with a reduction of weight to 1500-2000 g, enabling better protection and greater mobility.

The introduction of the breech-loader in 1841, the repeating-rifle in 1871, and the machine-gun after 1867, along with the discovery of smokeless gunpowder (1886), led to fundamental changes in tactics. The Queen of Battles again became the infantry, who needed ever better protection from quick firing and the destructive shelling of the artillery. In 1842, Prussia introduced pointed helmets (coll. Germ. Pickelhaube), which remained in use up to the introduction of steel helmets in 1916. Helmets were soon accepted in almost all European states. Despite technical improvements, these helmets proved insufficient, leaving soldiers unprotected under the hail of bullets and shells that were to fall on their heads in the First World War.

The tempest of shrapnel that fell on the dug-in soldiers of World War One accelerated the need for helmets that were resistant to shrapnel but at the same time would not shatter if struck by infantry weapons. The French created the Adrian model, the first iron helmet, in 1915. The Adrian helmet and its variants proved inadequate to meet ballistic requirements, but they were retained as part of military equipment up to the Second World War, and soldiers of the wartime Independent State of Croatia (NDH) confiscated them from impounded weaponry.

The modern iron helmet was created by the Germans in 1916. The Stahlhelm M-16 helmet and its variants became the standard helmets of the Central Axis, and the symbol of German militarism, detested among lands captured during the First and Second World Wars. The ballistic characteristics of this helmet enabled effective protection, visibility, and ventilation. Soldiers of the wartime Independent Croatian State (NDH) wore all models of the Stahlhelm, and the Yugoslav M-20 variant, and after the Second World War, the Yugoslav People's Army was equipped with this helmet up to 1960.

During the First World War, the English Mk. I model was created, a shallow helmet without a guard, but with good ballistic traits. It offered protection from shrapnel, but covered only a small part of the head, but its variants nonetheless outlived the Second World War. The types of guard-less steel helmets produced between the two world wars include the Czecho-Slovakian M-1934 helmet (the Yugolav Čačak model), used up to 1960.

Twentieth century helmets were formed as anatomic helmets with a spherical skull and discrete guards, such as the Italian M-1933, the American M-1, and the Soviet 1940 model. After 1945, the 1940 model became the standard helmet of the Warsaw Pact, and one of the helmets of the Yugoslav People's Army, who after 1959 used their own model, M-59/85.

Modern Soviet models of helmets were used during Desert Storm and the Homeland War (the Croatian War of Independence). It evidently became apparent that the iron helmets were no longer sufficient for American soldiers in the Blitzkrieg. The M-1 helmet was inspired by Italian models, but included a major innovation, a helmet padding of synthetic material. Introduced in 1941, it became the standard helmet of NATO after the Second World War. It was used in the USA up to 1989, and became a despised symbol of American imperialism behind the Iron Curtain. This helmet was also worn by troops of the Croatian Army while defending their country.

The experiences of the US Army in the Vietnam War in particular led to a new helmet being produced from kevlar, which together with the matching bullet-proof vest (flak-jacket) composed the PASGT battle equipment. Prompted by such a solution, many countries have purchased licenses for this, or have developed their own models, as has Croatia with the BK 9 and BK 3 helmets.

Ivan Ružić, Želimir Škoberne


Exhibition catalogue

Helmets in Croatia / Zoran Batušić, editor.
Zagreb : Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Croatia, 2001