World War I Real Photo Postcard Help Needed

This RPPC came out of a large lot of World War I postcards, a large mix of various allied and axis views. Anyone have a clue as to what country's soldiers this warmly dressed chap may have been from? There is absolutely no information, either printed or manuscript, verso.

My immediate first thought was: Russia, winter uniform.
There seems to be a hammer and sickle insignia on a (what would be a red) stripe

It looks to me like a German uniform. I think he's wearing a pickelhaube. See https://www.pinterest.com/pin/713820609709934422/.

I'm not sure it could be a hammer & sickle. Is it some sort of smoking apparatus he's holding?

Didn't Russia get out of WW1 after the Bolshevik Revolution?

Brest-Litovsk took it out of war with Germany, but there was then years of fighting with the Whites, Allied invaders, Poland etc.

Here's another WW1 German soldier with exactly that hat/helmet: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/595812225671883475/

Clearly, there's no easy answer. The spike on my guy's helmet isn't the same as the other one shown. The one thing that's making me lean towards it being a German soldier is the style of the guy's pipe with the metallic bowl lid, a style found commonly in, especially, alpine regions. Thanks all for the input (and keep 'em coming) !

The spike doesn't have to be identical. I don't think anyone else than the Germans had that spike. Also the band above the visor is shared in both photos:

Central Powers for WWI, Axis for WWII.



So, what? In more than 70 years, you don't think the helmet evolved? See https://www.kaisersbunker.com/pe/

Point taken. The picture on the right appears to have the helmet made out of leather, whereas the one on the left is either fabric or covered in fabric (making it a more recent iteration).
BTW, the Russians are credited with coming up with the spike on helmets, although it was pre-WWI and I have no idea if they were used during the 19-teens.

True....please forgive my egregious error.




WWI didn't last 70-years. Since uniformity is the whole point of wearing uniforms, the difference in spike shape during one war era is, imo, still worthy of questioning. Along those lines, its possible one of the spikes had gotten mangled in one of the trenches resulting in the different look. Did different ranks wear different spikes? I don't know, although that could also be a reason for the difference.

At any rate, I've settled on this being a German soldier.

Nope, it lasted a little over four. And in that time, the helmet had two official iterations (1914 and 1915) and the 1905/06 version was still realistically a possibility for use. My point (maybe not obvious) is that your argument that because the helmet in your photo doesn't look exactly like some of the others offered for comparison, it can't be the same helmet, is the equivalent of "the 2023 Ford Mustang doesn't look exactly like the 2004 Mustang, so the 2023 model isn't a Mustang." Both are nonsense.

One of the |German states wore a helmet that had a ball instead of a spike. (Bavaria?) Nearly all pickelhaubes had cloth covers when worn on active service. Pictures I have seen of Russian forces in WW1 show them wearing peaked caps and other things bearing no resemblance to a pickelhaube. The Soviet forces pre World War 2 are often shown wearing something that looks very like a pickelhaube.The sheepskin coat suggests he isn't fightng in Mesopotamia or Palestine. When it is cold soldiers concentrate on warmth rather than strict uniform, unless high command can equip them with suitable clothing all the time. All I would say definitely is that this is a guy who has just got hold of some Warm winter gear and a fancy pipe. I would associate that type of pipe with Alpine regions, but it could be loot rather than a reminder of home for the person in the photo.

The Red Army was not formed before Russia had withdrawn from WWI, nor was the 'hammer and sickle' used on uniforms before that time.




That is not the helmet itself, but a cloth cover to protect it from dirt and to prevent the Pickelhaube from reflecting light and making its bearer a walking target for shooting practice.

Also, I am not convinced the Pickelhaube in both pictures are much different. The picture in the OP appears to have the top of the Pickelhaube blend into the background, making it look shorter and less pointed when it is not.

This, very likely, is a German, probably a Prussian, officer.

Thank you, NSK. That explanation makes terrific sense !

Here's another RPPC from the same lot. Anyone know which country's army these gents were a part of?