Original Item: Only One available. This is a lovely Luftwaffe Civil Fire Brigade NCO's Schirmmütze (Visor Cap), one of only a handful that we have ever had, and definitely in great condition. This excellent wartime NCO Visor Cap is a high quality example, and is identical to the standard Feuerschutzpolizei (Fire Protection Police) visor cap in construction, with different insignia. It is fabricated from dark navy blue "doeskin" weave wool, with a wide black wool cap band. This is flanked by two rows of carmine red (karminrot) color piping around the circumference, and there is another row around the edge of the crown. This is the Protection Police Truppenfarbe (troop color) for the Fire branch.

The peak visor cap retains an excellent, Luftwaffe Civil Employee insignia on the top, which is the standard Luftwaffe eagle, but in this case, it is pointing to the left instead of the right. The cap band has a "winged" swas inside a wreath, the civil employee "Wings". The black patent leather NCO chinstrap is still present with the correct gloss black buttons, however as we often see the finish has checked and degraded over time. The visor is a classic vulcanfibre construction example, gloss pattern with very little age at all, just some scuffs and scratches on the top near the front. It is brown on the underside, and the stitching is fully intact, so it is solidly attached to the cap.

The cap is lined with orange "service cloth" type material on the top and sides, and shows little staining or wear. The celluloid sweat shield diamond is however completely missing, with most of the stitching still present. We cannot see any markings on the inner crown, though there are some stampings on the lining of the sides, which look to actually be from the material used to make it. The original brown finished leather sweatband is in very good condition, showing no major damage such as tears or missing pieces. It is still supple, showing staining around the forehead area, and the stitching is still intact. There is no size marking, but it measures out to a 58cm with our hat sizer.

The exterior of the cap overall is in excellent condition, and we cannot see any mothing or other insect damage. There is some soiling around the bottom edge of the cap by the sweatband, and we can see light overall wear, but nothing major. This is only the fifth example of one of these Luftwaffe Civic Fire Brigade caps that we have had, and they definitely appear to be very rare, and the insignia used on them vary. Ready to research and 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.