Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original German WWII Heer Army Jäger officer Schirmmütze visor cap showing moderate service wear. It is constructed from field gray Feldgrau whipcord wool with a dark bottle green Flaschengrün badge cloth band, light green Hellgrün branch 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 57cm.

The cap body is made from fine field gray whipcord wool with a traditional high forward crown and dark bottle green center band. Light green Hellgrün piping runs around the upper crown and along both edges of the band. This Waffenfarbe was associated with Jäger light infantry as well as related mountain and ski troop branches.

The front is fitted with a stamped aluminum Heer eagle on the crown and an open stamped aluminum oak leaf and acorn wreath surrounding an aluminum tricolor cockade on the band. The insignia show light oxidation and accumulated dust but remain complete. The red felt center of the cockade retains good color, with a stain visible on the left side.

The silver bullion officer chin cords are secured by standard silvered pebbled side buttons and remain in very good condition.

The Vulkanfiber visor has a smooth black leather look upper surface with a checkered gray underside. The upper black finish shows age related crazing and checking with minor cracking and edge wear. On the underside, areas of the surface finish have worn through to expose the reddish base material beneath. The visor remains firmly attached to the cap body.

The interior is lined in light blue gray satin, most likely rayon, showing staining and wear across the crown and side panels from service use.

The diamond shaped celluloid crown sweatshield is partially intact, with approximately 20% missing from tearing. The surviving portion shows discoloration from wear. Remnants of a gold painted maker marking remain beneath the celluloid, but the inscription is too worn to identify with confidence.

The gray finished leather sweatband remains supple and in very good used condition. It shows staining and wear but no major tears, cracks, or other structural damage. The stitching securing it to the cap remains intact.

The cap measures approximately:

57cm

Overall condition is very good, with strong exterior color retention and particularly well preserved light green piping. The aluminum insignia show only light oxidation. There is minor moth grazing to the fuzzy nap of the wool on the underside of the crown, but no full thickness moth holes are noted. Worked in dirt and grease are also present along the lower interior edge adjacent to the sweatband.

With its light green Jäger branch piping, silver officer chin cords, aluminum insignia, pronounced saddle form crown, and measured 57cm size, this is a strong service used Heer officer visor cap. The partially torn sweatshield, unreadable maker marking, visor crazing and underside wear, light moth grazing, interior staining, and worked in dirt around the sweatband are all fully disclosed. It would fit especially well in a Heer Jäger, light infantry, officer headgear, 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.