Unbelievably, the maddest part of Eisenstein's film Alexander Nevsky, the costumes of the Teutonic knights, actually reproduces historical reality quite accurately

Unbelievably, the maddest part of Eisenstein's film Alexander Nevsky, the costumes of the Teutonic knights, actually reproduces historical reality quite accurately. At least if we are to believe the illustrations in medieval codices, for example the German Codex Manesse (2, 3) of around 1300 and the Zurich Armorial (1) of 1340.

So Eisenstein and the film's artists did a splendid job, and the strange torses and the comical crest figures on the Teutonic helmets are perfectly historical. Incidentally, in the battle scene, when the helmets are decapitated, one can notice that the horns are made of painted rough leather rather than metal. This too matches their original manufacturing technology: leather or heavy cloth stuffed with wool.

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Unbelievably, the maddest part of Eisenstein's film Alexander Nevsky, the costumes of the Teutonic knights, actually reproduces historical reality quite accurately

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