Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely example of a named German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Cavalry Officer's Schirmmütze (visor cap), made by Robert Lubstein under their legendary EREL brand. It is marked on both the inside of the crown and the sweatband, making it a VERY desirable DOUBLE MARKED example! The cap still retains the original crown stiffener, so the shape is well-retained, giving it a fantastic gently sloped look that is quite sleek. It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) "whipcord" weave wool construction with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. It also has matching Goldgelb (Golden Yellow) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Cavalry, as well as reconnaissance and armored reconnaissance units with cavalry traditions. It has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer.

It is decorated with a well detailed aluminum eagle insignia on the peak and and an open cast aluminum oak leaf and acorn wreath with an attached metal tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia are still in good shape, with a bit of oxidation on the peak eagle, while the oak leaf wreath looks to originally have been lacquered, which turned a dark amber color over the years. This makes it look somewhat golden, but it was definitely originally silver. The cockade features a red mesh insert, which still shows the correct red color. The chin strap is attached with the standard silvered pebbled buttons on either side of the cap. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting just a bit of wear along the edge, and is checkered brown on the underside. It also has a lovely pattern of light crazing on the black enamel finished top, with no cracking.

The inside of the cap is lined with cream sheer fabric, most likely rayon, which shows light staining and wear from use. The top celluloid sweat shield diamond is in great shape, fully intact with complete stitching. Underneath the crown still bears a complete EREL trademark logo:

OFFIZIER
KLEIDERKASSE
BERLIN
EREL
SonderKlasse
Extra

The cap also has an embossed stamp over the left ear on the sweatband: EREL PATENT / STIRNSCHUTZ, which refers to the "Forehead Protection" of the sweatband design. This means that the sweatband was never replaced, making this a "double marked" example. There is no size marking we can see, but it seems to be about a 58-59cm. The gray finished leather sweatband is in good condition, still soft, but it does show staining and a few small tears from use. The piping around the edge is worn, and the stitching holding the sweatband on has pulled out in areas.

Overall condition is very good, showing no major damage or color fading. There are just a few moth nips overall, except on the very bottom of the band, which shows just a bit more wear and damage. Cavalry visors are always in demand, and this is really a choice example.

A lovely example of a classic visor cap worn by German Army Cavalry Officers in WWII, double marked by the legendary EREL company. 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.