Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very attractive German WWII Metropolitan Police officer pattern Tschako, or shako, dated 1937 and manufactured by Maury & Co. of Offenbach am Main. It features the later police green wool covered body with black trim, a high quality aluminum Police eagle front plate, original aluminum Feldzeichen cockade, and black leather chinstrap with aluminum fittings. The surviving maker, date, size, and cockade markings give this example especially strong collector appeal.

This later pattern construction replaced the earlier all leather style and uses a green wool covered body with black leather and Vulcanfibre trim, the combination associated with metropolitan or municipal police wear. This contrasts with the brown trimmed shakos more commonly associated with rural police organizations.

The front is fitted with a finely made aluminum Police eagle Wappen, or front plate. Above it is the original aluminum Feldzeichen cockade, an important surviving component that is often missing on these helmets.

The reverse of the cockade is marked:

1938
KLEIN & QUENZER
OBERSTEIN

Klein & Quenzer of Oberstein was an established wartime manufacturer of badges and insignia. The 1938 date on the cockade is entirely compatible with a shako whose body is dated 1937.

The shako is fitted with the correct black leather chinstrap with non-magnetic fittings. The strap remains in very good condition, showing light wear to the finish but no major cracking or structural deterioration. It retains the correct aluminum double buckles for adjustment.

The black trim is likewise in very good condition overall. It shows age related checking and some surface degradation, but still retains a strong shine. The stitching has been inspected and appears sound throughout, with no significant rotting, pulling, or separation.

The interior tan finished leather liner remains in very good condition and still retains its original leather top tie. The liner is supple and shows only light overall service wear and staining, with some localized cracking but no major tears.

On the underside of the liner, one side is stamped:

1937

The opposite side is marked:

P.55

The exact meaning of the P.55 marking is not presently known, so it has been left uninterpreted.

The inner crown is clearly marked with the size and maker information:

54 ½

GEGR.1820
Maury & Co.
OFFENBACH a.M.

GEGR.1820 is an abbreviation for Gegründet 1820, or “Founded 1820.” Maury & Co. of Offenbach am Main is a known manufacturer of German police shakos.

Both side ventilation assemblies remain present and are fitted with working slide closures. They are somewhat stiff from age but continue to function.

The only notable deficiency is at the forehead area, where the original cork padding beneath the liner has deteriorated and broken apart. Much of it has fallen away into small fragments, with some pieces still present inside the shako.

Overall condition is very good. The green wool body, black trim, officer quality aluminum eagle, original dated cockade, complete chinstrap, supple liner, working vents, and extensive interior markings all remain strong. The degraded cork padding is fully disclosed, but it does little to detract from the overall presentation.

For the German WWII Police headgear collector, this is a particularly desirable Metropolitan Police shako with a strong combination of features: a 1937 dated body, 1938 dated Klein & Quenzer cockade, clearly marked Maury & Co. interior, measured size 54 ½, officer pattern insignia, black municipal police trim, and original chinstrap. Its excellent overall completeness and marked components make it a very appealing example of late 1930s German police headgear.

History of the shako-
The word shako originated from the Hungarian name csákós süveg ("peaked cap"), which was a part of the uniform of the Hungarian hussar of the 18th century. Other spellings include chako, czako, schako and tschako.

From 1800 on the shako became a common military headdress, worn by the majority of regiments in the armies of Europe and the Americas. Replacing in most instances the light bicorne, the shako was initially considered an improvement. Made of heavy felt and leather, it retained its shape and provided some protection for the soldier's skull, while its visor shaded his eyes. The shako retained this pre-eminence until the mid-19th century, when spiked helmets began to appear in the armies of the various German States, and the more practical kepi replaced it for all but parade wear in the French Army. The Imperial Russian Army substituted a spiked helmet for the shako in 1844-45 but returned to the latter headdress in 1855, before adopting a form of kepi in 1864. Following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, military fashions changed and cloth or leather helmets based on the German headdress began to supersede the shako in many armies.

Although the mid-nineteenth century shako was impressive in appearance and added to the height of the wearer, it was also heavy and by itself provided little protection against bad weather as most models were made of cloth or felt material over a leather body and peak. Many armies countered this by utilizing specially designed oilskin covers to protect the shako and the wearer from heavy rain while on campaign. The shako provided little protection from enemy action as the most it could offer was in giving partial shielding of the skull from enemy cavalry sabers.