Original Item: Only One available. This is a lovely Luftwaffe Flight Branch EM/NCO Schirmmütze (Visor Cap) in size 56cm, dated 1938 on the interior. A wonderful honest lightly used example with a fantastic "Crushed" or "saddle-form" shape that is highly desirable, accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. This NCO Schirmmütze Visor Cap is an original high quality manufactured cap. It is fabricated in Luftwaffe blue gray Fliegerblau (Flier's Blue) "doeskin" weave wool, with wide black wool cap band, plus three rows of goldgelb (Gold-Yellow) color piping for the flight branch (Waffenfarbe) around the circumference. This included Aviator troops such as pilots and ground personnel as well as Fallschirmjäger (parachute troops).

The is decorated with the correct insignia, including a finely-detailed aluminum eagle on the peak, and an aluminum oak leaf wreath with stylized wings and central painted tri-color cockade on the band. These are in excellent condition, showing little wear of any kind, and just a bit of light oxidation. The dual-buckled black leather chinstrap, designating the wearer to be an enlisted man, is attached to black lacquered buttons on either side. It shows fine checking to the finish, very common on patent leather items of this age, and now makes it look more matte than gloss. The visor is the classic gloss black color with a faux leather stitched edge trim, made of pressed vulcanfibre with a checkered green underside. It shows crazing and checking on the visor, caused by age, as well as some "melting" of the finish, and the edge trim is in wonderful condition and complete. The visor is still well attached to the body of the cap.

The interior of the cap is lined with brown "service cloth" type material, which shows little to no staining from use. The top celluloid sweat shield diamond is fully intact, and there is just a bit of pulling on the stitching. The maker logo marking under the plastic is fully visible:

Landeslieferungs-
genossenschaft
Kürschner u.
Mützenmacher
in Bayern
15
1938

56

This translates to "State Supply Cooperative Furriers and Hatters" located in Bayern (Bavaria), and indicates it was supplied in 1938. The sweatband beige finished leather, and is in very good condition, showing light wear. The orange rubber under the forehead vents is actually still soft, somethign we rarely see! It also has a lovely unit marking on the underside, which reads Fl. Gp. GöPP in a rectangle. This most likely stands for Fliegergruppe Göppingen (Flight Group Göppingen), which would have been based in southern Germany. Definitely some nice research potential here!

Overall, the condition of the cap is very good, with the colors well retained and great eye appeal. Unfortunately it suffered moth damage to the top edge of the crown, probably from being kept upside down on a shelf, which would have left some nice dark areas under the edge, which moths love. There are areas completely eaten through the fabric, particularly on the front edge. Please consult the pictures for further details.

This is a very nice Luftwaffe Flight Branch EM/NCO peaked visor cap, offered in very good condition with a great look. 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.