The head of this halberd incorporates three basic elements: an axe-like blade, a stabbing spike, and a beak. The axe blade, which gives the weapon its name (derived from the German Halm, long shaft, and Barte, axe) was used for hacking, the spike for thrusting, and the beak either for piercing weaker armor, or for pulling a knight from his saddle.
The halberd was a foot-soldier's weapon particularly popular in Germany and Switzerland. It was the most versatile of shafted weapons a man on foot could use; though the pike was the main weapon for the massed squares of foot soldiers so important in 15th and 16th century battles, the halberd was utilized both by the famous Swiss Reisläufer and German Landsknecht.