Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a wonderful service used example of a named 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 has definitely had some repairs over the years, an the sweatband was removed, and additional liner grafted in, which really gives it a great "been there" look.

It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) "doe skin" weave wool construction with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) "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 an aluminum tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia look great, with just a bit of light oxidation, and the red felt insert inside the cockade has faded just a bit. The officer's chin strap is attached with the standard pebbled buttons on either side of the cap, and is in very good shape, showing only light wear. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting minimal wear along the edge and is beige on the underside. The top of the visor shows a lovely pattern of checking and crazing due to age.

The interior of the cap is lined with light gray rayon twill, which shows staining and wear from service. The top celluloid sweat shield diamond is definitely worn, with some cracking to the material, and the stitching is more than 50% gone. It also has no sweatband, which was apparently removed and had some light gray green rayon added in its place. From what we can tell, this cap is about a size 56cm.

The condition shows that this cap definitely saw long service during the war. The exterior has a lot of wear and fading due to light and weather exposure. There is also damage to the crown and piping from mothing, and wear through on the bottom of the cap, which could also be partly due to mothing.

A great "salty" service worn 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.