Original Item: Only One available. This is a lovely service used condition Luftwaffe Flak Artillery EM/NCO Schirmmütze Visor Cap, which is size marked 56. This wonderful honest used example is an original high quality manufactured cap, and still has the original crown support stiffener ring, so the sides of the crown have not slumped down over the years. It has a lovely relaxed look that looks great. It is fabricated in Luftwaffe blue gray Fliegerblau ( Flier's Blue) "doeskin" weave wool gabardine, with wide black ribbed wool cap band, plus three rows of deep red (tiefrot) color piping around the circumference. This is the Luftwaffe Waffenfarbe (corps color) for Anti-aircraft troops and other Artillery.

The peak visor cap retains an excellent, high quality, aluminum pin Luftwaffe eagle with swas, and an aluminum oak leaf wreath with stylized wings and central painted tri-color cockade on the band. These show some light oxidation to the exterior, and the paint on the cockade is a bit worn, but they still look great. The chinstrap and buttons are still present and in very good condition, though there definitely is wear to the finish of the buckles, which happens over time. The leather also shows some "melting" to the finish, which is typical age related degradation. The visor looks to be made of pressed paper or some variety of vulcanfibre, and shows some checking and crazing on the top due to age. The underside is black in color, and the original edge trim is present, it is cracked and flaked away along much of the edge.

The inside of the cap is lined light brown "service cloth" type material, which shows a good amount of staining from use. The original celluloid sweat shield diamond is completely missing, though the stitching is still intact. The original maker information and size is still present, but the bronze paint has oxidized and faded. As best we can tell it reads:

Deutsche Wertarbeit
(Logo)
Clemens Wagner
Fabrik feiner Uniformmützen
Braunschweig
Bültenweg 72

56

The sweatband is made of brown leather, and is in very good condition, showing moderate wear with some minor tearing at the very edge. The red foam rubber under the forehead area is completely gone, though there are remnants on the fabric and on the underside of the sweatband.

Overall the colors are very well retained, however there is definitely dust and staining on the wool exterior. We can see some wear to the exterior as well as moth holes, and the shape of the band is just a bit deformed. It looks like a cap that saw a good amount of use during the war, giving it an impossible to duplicate aged look.

This is a lovely Luftwaffe Flak Artillery EM/NCO peaked visor cap, offered in very good used condition. Ready to display!

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.