Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a rare "salty" service worn example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Wehrmachtspfarrer/Kriegspfarrer (Wehrmacht Chaplain/Wartime Chaplain) Officer Schirmmütze visor cap. The cap has a lovely "Crushed" or "saddle-form" shape that is highly desirable, accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) "doe skin" weave wool construction, very popular with officers, with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. The cap also has matching Lila (Purple) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Heer Army Kriegspfarreren field chaplains. It has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer in the corps.

The cap features a lovely aged stamped alloy Wehrmachtadler Eagle on the crown, over an early pattern hand embroidered open aluminum bullion oak leaf wreath surrounding a metal tri-color cockade. The insignia all have a lovely patina of age, with no major damage, just some oxidation to the eagle and cockade, which has a painted on red insert in the middle. The chin strap is attached with the standard silvered buttons on either side of the cap, and is in very good condition. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting light wear along the edge and is checkered beige on the underside. The top of the visor shows a lovely pattern of checking and crazing due to age, and the visor is still well attached to the cap body. There is a bend on the left end, which has not cracked through but definitely damaged the finish on both sides.

The inside of the cap is lined with cream rayon faux silk cloth, with the top sweat shield completely missing. The liner does show staining and wear, so it definitely saw a lot of use during the war. The leather sweatband is stained and also shows staining and wear, and it has now become stiff and a bit brittle at the edges, resulting in some cracking. The stitching is still solid, and the size measures out to about 56cm.

Condition is good, but the visor cap definitely does show wear. Aside from the wear on the interior, the exterior shows overall staining and discoloration, and there also is moth damage to the exterior. There are some holes in the crown, as well as damage to the piping, both of which are very attractive to moths due to the relatively loose weave of the fuzzy "nap". Please consult the pictures for further condition details.

A very nice "salty" service worn example of the classic hat worn by German Wehrmacht Field Chaplain 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.