Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very attractive original German WWII Gendarmerie Rural Police M38 Schiffchen, or overseas cap, in a clearly marked size 56. Constructed from Polizei green-blue wool with distinctive Orange-gelb, or orange-yellow, branch piping and a BeVo style embroidered Civic Police eagle, it remains in very good condition with only light age toning and some fraying to the front insignia. Rural Police overseas caps are considerably less commonly encountered than standard military examples, making this a particularly appealing piece of German police headgear.

The Ordnungspolizei, commonly abbreviated Orpo, was the uniformed German police organization during the Third Reich period and incorporated a number of separate branches with distinctive branch colors used on uniforms and headgear. The Gendarmerie, or rural police, served in small communities, rural districts, and other areas outside the larger municipal police system.

The Gendarmerie used Orange-gelb, or orange-yellow, as its branch color. On this cap, the piping runs along both sides of the upper pleat and joins into a single line at the front and rear seams, giving the cap its distinctive Rural Police appearance.

The body is made from Polizei green-blue wool in the familiar M38 overseas cap form. The German nickname Schiffchen, literally “little ship,” referred to the cap's characteristic folded profile.

The lower front carries a BeVo style machine embroidered Civic Police eagle. The insignia remains clearly recognizable but shows some age related fraying, including two areas where the embroidery has torn through.

The interior is lined in light gray rayon and is clearly size marked:

56

Condition overall is very good. The wool body shows very little staining or structural damage, with only light general age toning. The orange-yellow piping remains bright and clearly defined, while the primary condition issue is the localized fraying to the front Police eagle.

For the German WWII Police or Gendarmerie collector, this is a particularly appealing M38 Schiffchen with all of the important identifying features still present: Polizei green-blue wool construction, distinctive Orange-gelb Rural Police piping, original BeVo style Civic Police eagle, and a clearly marked size 56. The strong overall condition and easily identifiable branch colors make it an excellent display example of Rural Police headgear.

The Ordnungspolizei, abbreviated Orpo, meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in NSDAP Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organization was absorbed into the NSDAP monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favor of the central government ("Reich-ification", Verreichlichung, of the police). The Orpo was controlled, nominally by the Interior Ministry but its executive functions rested with the leadership of the SS until the end of World War II. Owing to their green uniforms, Orpo were also referred to as Grüne Polizei (green police). The force was first established as a centralized organization uniting the municipal, city, and rural uniformed police that had been organized on a state-by-state basis. Eventually the Police were divided into eight assorted branches of service, with each branch having a distinguishing truppenfarbe, (Branch of service color) that was displayed on the uniforms including the piping on the visor caps.

The Gendarmerie (state rural police) were tasked with frontier law enforcement to include small communities, rural districts, and mountainous terrain. They were issued uniforms with Orange-gelb (Orange-yellow) truppenfarbe piping and insignia. With the development of a network of motorways or Autobahnen, motorized gendarmerie companies were set up in 1937 to secure the traffic. The German Police had no enlisted ranks, with the lowest rank being an Unterwachtmeister (Junior Watch Master), which was equivalent to the German army rank of Unteroffizier. The highest NCO rank was that of the Meister (Master), or Warrant Officer, which did not have an armed forces equivalent, but was higher than an army Oberfeldwebel (Master Sergeant).