Original Item: Only One Available. As with most countries, the Insignia and Rank structure of the German WWII Era Kriegsmarine Navy was different from their land-based counterparts. This also extended to the visor caps that they used, in that they did not utilize the bullion chinstraps to denote rank, as they proved impractical for actual usage and leather chinstraps were worn instead. As a result, there was no way to determine Officers from Senior NCOs until regulations of May 13th, 1936 introduced new identifying visor trim for officers ranks to distinguish them from the NCO’s. The new visor trim came in three different patterns with one pattern for Junior / Company Grade Officers, one for Senior / Field Grade Officers and the third for Flag / General Grade Officers.

This is a fantastic German World War Two Kriegsmarine Navy Junior / Company Grade Officer's Schirmmütze (Visor Cap). This version of the cap was worn by officers of the Leutnant zur See (Ensign) rank up to Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant). This cap looks to be an early issue version, as it does not have a removable cover, as many later patterns did. The Reichsadler National Eagle Insignia as well as the front cap badge wreath and tri-color cockade are all hand-embroidered with gold and silver bullion thread, with celleon retaining threads on the eagle. The cockade features a red felt insert, with the rest being bullion. By the early WWII period typically the cockade would at least be a cast insignia, but not on this example. The badge is attached to the classic black coarsely woven ribbed band, which is partly covered by the black patent leather chin strap.

The visor has a felt top with half leaf embroidery around the edge, representing a junior or "company grade" officer. The underside of the visor is faux leather, which has shrunk and pulled away from the top a bit, and the edge trim on the visor is fully intact. It is still firmly attached to the body of the cap.

The interior of the cap features a classic cream colored faux silk on the top, while the sides are golden rayon of a rougher texture. The celluloid sweat shield on this example is now completely missing, though the stitching that held it in place is still intact. There was originally a maker marking in bronze paint, which is now almost completely missing. We can however read what it said from the shadow:-

Die
Nordmark-
Mütze
aümt für Qualität

This does not look to be a maker name, but a name of the style of cap, but it could be used to track down the maker. The sweatband is made from natural finished leather, and is still in very good condition, supple with no major tears or damage. It has matured to a lovely chestnut color, and we can see that the stitching along the edge shas popped in areas, and also is repaired along the front by the visor. There are no size markings we can see, however it measures out to about 59cm with our hat sizer. We checked under the sweatband for markings, and not only did we see an Eagle / M Marineamt naval inspection marking, but the cap is also named Sieder - 984!

The cap does show age and wear, but is overall in very good condition, and is one of the better examples that we have had. There is some oxidation and damage to the bullion insignia, but nothing out of line with age and service. This will be an impressive and handsome addition to any German Kriegsmarine Naval display.

Overall a great condition totally genuine Named Kriegsmarine Junior Grade officer's visor cap!

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.