Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a wonderful very early example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Artillery Officer's Schirmmütze (visor cap), with a lovely "Crushed" shape. This "saddle-form" shape is highly desirable, and accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It features lovely feldgrau (field gray) "whipcord" weave wool construction with a dark bottle-green (flaschengrün) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. The also has matching Hochrot (Deep Red) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Artillery, as well as General Level Officers. It has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer.

It is decorated with a well detailed aluminum eagle insignia on the peak and and an open aluminum oak leaf and acorn wreath surrounding a plated metal tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia look great, with no real damage to speak of, though there is some patination on the plated central portion of the cockade. The red felt insert inside the cockade is present and vibrant. The officer's chin strap is attached with the standard pebbled buttons on either side of the cap. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting some wear and scrapes along the edge and is checkered brown on the underside. It has a lovely look, with a fantastic pattern of checking and crazing on the black enamel top finish.

The inside of the cap is lined with orange - brown "service cloth" type material, and shows only light staining and wear, with no tearing or major damage we can see. The top celulloid sweat shield diamong is almost completely intact, with fully intact stitching, and has the size 55 stamped underneath. There is some deterioration of the material, possibly from contact with foam rubber or something similar, which has left some debris on the interior. The natural leather sweatband is in very good service used condition, showing moderate staining with a few tears, and it is still quite supple. The stitching attaching it to the cap is still mostly intact, and it is is maker marked and dated on the underside.

„Ago“ Arb. Genossench.
e.G.m.b.H.
Nordmark
Mützen-Hersteller Nr. 1
1937

Condition is very good, with no real mothing we can see on the exterior. The colors are very well retained, and we do not see any major wear or staining. Definitely one of the better looking examples we have had recently!

A great example of a classic hat worn by German Army Artillery Officers in WWII. Very impressive and ready to display!

The German Schirmmütze Visor Cap:
The visor cap (Schirmmütze) was an important part of the headgear worn by German uniformed military, civil, paramilitary and political organizations during the Third Reich. This was the standard cloth headgear worn as a part of the service uniform. Visor caps were worn outdoors as well as indoors, and were often required to be worn by all personnel on duty. Visor caps were made in versions specific to each organization and were often further differentiated through the use of insignia, colored piping, or style of chin cord, to indicate rank, role or branch. The insignia used on these caps ranged from simple stamped metal emblems, to elaborate hand embroidery. Visor caps were issued to enlisted soldiers and NCOs in the military and in some other organizations. Officers had to purchase their own hats, and lower ranks could choose to purchase caps that were of a higher quality than the rather basic, issue examples. The private purchase caps were generally made in very high quality, with fine materials. A wide variety of fabrics were used, from Trikot and doeskin, to heavy wool, or even lightweight white fabric for summer wear. In the military, issue of these caps was generally suspended shortly after the outbreak of the war, but they continued to be worn by some troops until the end of the war.