Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely Rural Police Officer's pattern Tschako, made by the very desirable EREL brand, a top class maker of headwear during the war. They manufactured many police shakos before the war, and this later pattern police green wool body and brown leather trim, which replaced the original all leather style. It has a very fine quality police officer aluminum eagle front plate, with high grade silvered aluminum chin scales, something we rarely see. From what we can tell these were only worn by high ranking officers, and this is only the third example we have had with this type of chin strap. The front top of the helmet has a wonderful high end aluminum bullion Feldzeichen cockade (often missing), which can be removed for storage. This example is trimmed in brown for rural police, while black trim was used for the municipal police.

Above the eagle is a removable officer’s Feldzeichen, or national cockade, worked in aluminum bullion. These detachable cockades are frequently absent from surviving police shakos, making its retention an important feature of this example. The cockade can be removed for storage, though care should be taken when handling the attachment and surrounding crown material.

This example has some heavy wear overall, with the worst damage being a hole in the crown, surrounded by layers of crazing and cracks across the exterior crown.

The interior is in great overall condition, showing a very rare officer’s style liner very similar to those used in Pickelhaubes during the First World War with a silk skullcap and patterned leather sweatband. Due to the liner’s construction, we could not check under the sweatband for a date. The liner itself is ink-stamped with 58, the size. The interior crown retains the maker logo:

GES. GESCH.
FABRIKMARKE
(Logo)
EREL
BERLIN
FIBER-TSCHAKO

EREL was the commercial brand of Robert Lubstein of Berlin, a prominent manufacturer of military and police headwear. The clearly retained factory logo and FIBER-TSCHAKO designation identify both the maker and the fiber construction of the helmet body.

Mesh ventilation openings are present on both sides and remain in very good condition. Both sliding vent closures are retained. The closures are stiff from age, and one is currently immovable. They should not be forced, as doing so could damage the surrounding material or fittings.

Overall condition is very good minus the hole in the crown, showing moderate wear and some deterioration due to age and storage. This is particularly apparent on the gloss black leather areas, which show checking and crazing due to the finish deteriorating. There are just a few moth nips to the fuzzy "nap" of the wool covering the main body of the shako, as well as some scattered staining and overall wear, along with the hole in the crown.

The German police shako developed from a form of military headgear used throughout Europe during the 19th century. The name derives from the Hungarian csákó, associated with the traditional headdress of hussar troops. Although the shako largely disappeared from general military service as helmets and field caps became more practical, it remained an important part of German police dress into the WWII period.

Following the national reorganization of the German police in 1936, a standardized green uniform and a revised police shako were introduced. The new shako carried the large national police eagle and was worn by branches of the uniformed Ordnungspolizei. Brown leather trim distinguished the rural Gendarmerie, while black trim was associated with the municipal Schutzpolizei.

This EREL shako retains the components most important to its identification, including the brown Rural Police trim, officer quality eagle, silvered chinscales, removable bullion Feldzeichen, distinctive officer interior, and complete maker logo. The hole and extensive deterioration in the crown are significant condition issues. Despite this damage, the surviving officer fittings and marked EREL interior make it a worthwhile example for a collection of German WWII police headgear, Rural Police uniforms, or officer quality Ordnungspolizei equipment.