Entwicklung des Kopfschutzes fuer den Feuerwehrmann

The „Gugelhub”
Summary
A long time ago, in the distant past, people started to realise that, in war or battle, the head controlling
vital functions of the body should be protected against mechanical impact. Thies led to the invention of
the helmet. Ancient drawings depicting naked heroes equipped with nothing more than a helmet and a
sword, symbolised protection and pugnacity.
The Prussian military reformer General Carl von Clausewitz put into practice an insight that even the
andient Romans were familiar with. He believed that a helmet also stands for leadership and, as claimed
recently by the psychologist Dr. Hans-Joachim Korves in an article about human social behaviour published
in the German news magazine “Der Spiegel” (no. 37/2007), that it represents the favouring of
one`s own group over another, i. e. that the helmet is about the psychology of leadership.
The need for helmets that stood out ultimately led to the development of pageantry and show helmets
that were about the ego of their wearers and their wish to demonstrate their position of wealth an power,
which is diametrically opposed to their orignial purpose of protection. Unfortunately, even the fire fighters
followed this trend, which may have been due to the fact that they were offered the remaining stock
of military helmets at cheap prices.
Only during World War I, from 1914 to 1918, did things start to change and genuine protection helmets
came into being.
In the civilian field of mining, the trend towards pageantry and show helmets was not followed. When
carrying out the difficult and dangerous work underground, the miners needed simple and effective
protection as offered by the two “Kugelhauben” or”spherical helmets” present and described by me in
this context. They were lightweight, very cheap in comparison with many military helmets, they were
sufficiently protective, the cushioning was washable, greasing the leather helped to protect against the
wet conditions in the galleries, and ultimately, they offered the option to attach a neck protection device.
Also, during the deployment of mine rescue brigades, these helmets did not cause sparks leading to firedamp
(in this context, I remember my time working for the professional fire brigades where, in order to
avoid potential sparks, wooden nails were beaten into the soles of the boots, where the respirator mask
containers were made from leather and where clothes made from man-made material were banned due
to the risk of electrostatic charge associated with static electricity). However, we still wore steed helmets
which, when dropped or banged against stone or metal, could create sparks.
Hence, at the beginning of modern times and considering the technical possibilities available at the
time, the “Kugelhaube” helmet fulfilled almost all requirements that we expect from today`s protective
helmet. Many of its qualities found their way into the development of protective headgear worn by fire
fighters. Only in the second half of the 20 th century did the leather “Guglhub” or spherical helmet start
to lose its importance and was replaced by modern plastic helmets.
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