Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a great example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Signals Officer's Schirmmütze (visor cap), and it really looks the business. The cap has a lovely "Crushed" or "saddle-form" shape that is highly desirable, accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It features lovely feldgrau (field gray) "doeskin" weave wool construction with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. The cap also has matching Zitronengelb (lemon-yellow) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) used by the Heer Army Nachrichtentruppe (Signal corps), responsible for setting up and maintaining communication equipment. It has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer.

It is decorated with an early pattern stamped metal eagle insignia on the peak, and an open silver bullion embroidered wreath surrounding a metal tri-color cockade on the band. The eagle has a lovely patina, looking to be nickel or maybe silver plated, and the metal cockade shows a bit less oxidation. Wreath is in love shape, though there are a few loose strands of bullion, and the red felt insert in the cockade is still vibrant. The chin strap is attached with the standard pebbled buttons on either side of the cap, and is in very good condition. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting only minor wear on the edge, and the underside is checkered brown. The top shows a lovely pattern of very fine crazing and checking to the gloss enamel finish, with some wear from the chinstrap.

The inside of the cap is lined with an olive cotton twill fabric, showing very little in the way of staining or use. The original celluloid sweat shield "diamond" is in excellent condition, fully intact with complete stitching. It has a "shield" logo underneath that reads Beste Deutsche Wertarbeit (Beste German Craftsmanshp). which is in excellent condition, and under this it is marked with size 57. The sweatband is brown oilcloth material, which has unfortunately degraded over time, and now shows cracking and tearing. There is a tear almost all the way through on the right side.

Overall condition is very good, showing very little use or wear. There is a bit of scattered moth damage, but nothing major. The original colors are still vibrant, and this most likely looks much as it did when it was first made.

A lovely well-preserved example of a classic hat worn by German Army Signals 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.