Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original German WWII Heer Army Artillery officer Schirmmütze visor cap manufactured by Peter Küpper of Wuppertal-Ronsdorf under the Peküro label. This company was a "Top Five" maker during the WWII period, up there with EREL and Wilhelm Welhausen, and caps made by them were desirable then as they are now. It is constructed from field gray Feldgrau doeskin wool with a dark bottle green Flaschengrün badge cloth band, deep red Hochrot Artillery piping, and silver bullion officer chin cords. The crown stiffener has been removed, giving the cap its pronounced saddle form profile. The cap measures approximately 54cm.

The cap body is made from fine field gray doeskin wool with a traditional high forward crown and dark bottle green center band. Deep red Hochrot piping runs around the upper crown and along both edges of the band, identifying the Artillery branch.

The front is fitted with silvered alloy insignia, including the Heer eagle on the crown and an open oak leaf and acorn wreath surrounding a silvered metal tricolor cockade on the band. The insignia have developed attractive age patination and tarnishing, with some loss to the silvered finish. The red felt center of the cockade remains vibrant.

The silver bullion officer chin cords are secured by standard pebbled side buttons and remain in very good condition with only light wear and no major oxidation or damage.

The Vulkanfiber visor has a smooth black leather look upper surface and a checkered beige underside. The upper finish shows age related checking and crazing, together with an area of scratching along the front right edge. The visor remains attached but is slightly loose because the retaining stitching has stretched with age.

The interior is lined in light salmon colored satin rayon showing light service wear. There is also a large black marker area on the lining.

The celluloid crown sweatshield remains fully intact with complete surrounding stitching and retains the full maker and retailer information in black print:

Peküro

Stirndruckfrei
DEUTSCHES REICHSPATENT

Max Pfeiler
MILITÄR-EFFEKTEN
MÜNCHEN
DACHAUERSTR. 149
TEL. 54982

The natural leather sweatband has forehead perforations and remains supple and free from major tears. A velvet plush spacer is stitched between the sweatband and the cap body. The leather shows staining in the forehead area, while the velvet spacer has worked in dirt and oils from wear. Some of the sweatband stitching has pulled loose toward the rear.

The cap measures approximately:

54cm

Overall condition is very good, with strong color retention and a pronounced saddle form profile. There are a few small moth nips to the piping, along with stitched repairs to earlier areas of damage on the top of the crown and on the underside. The visor shows age crazing, scratching, and slight looseness, while the interior shows normal service staining, the black marker area, and some loosened stitching at the rear of the sweatband.

With its Peküro manufacture, deep red Artillery piping, silver officer chin cords, intact maker and retailer marked sweatshield, velvet sweatband spacer, and pronounced saddle form crown, this is a strong example of a German WWII Heer Artillery officer visor cap. The repaired crown damage, moth nips, visor wear, lining stain and marker area, and pulled rear sweatband stitching are all fully disclosed. It would fit especially well in a Heer Artillery, Peküro headgear, officer uniform, or advanced German WWII visor cap collection.

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.