Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely Luftwaffe Generalluftzeugmeister Officer's Schirmmütze Visor Cap, which we have not had before! It features the Luftwaffe eagle over a gear on the crown, and has a great hand embroidered bullion band insignia. It shows signs of moderate use in service, but no abuse, giving it a fantastic aged look. A wonderful honest example with a fantastic swept back shape. It still has the crown stiffener present, but it has been contoured, giving the cap a bit of that saddle form appearance which we all love.

The Generalluftzeugmeister (General Air Force Quartermaster or GL) was a public office of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Reich Aviation Ministry) during the WWII era. The organization was the civilian Supply and Procurement Service that handled many of the Luftwaffe’s technical duties such as testing and requisitioning supplies. It employed a large number of civilians, who were given a distinct cap badge to wear in order to distinguish them from regular units of the Luftwaffe.

It was said that before the war, members wore a visor hat with the standard Luftwaffe eagle national emblem, but later the insignia was redesigned specifically for the Generalluftzeugmeister to include a cog wheel encircling the eagle. However, most period photos show that this was also worn as a breast badge where most men would wear the fliegerbluse with red piping. For officers in the organization however, it looks to usually have been worn on the cap as well as the uniform.

This GL Officer's Schirmmütze Visor Cap is a very high quality manufactured example. Fabricated in Luftwaffe blue gray Fliegerblau (Flier's Blue) "whipcord" weave wool gabardine, with a wide black ribbed wool cap band and three rows of fine silver bullion piping around the circumference. It is fronted by a silvered aluminum GL cap badge showing the Luftwaffe eagle in a cog wheel, and a heavily bullion embroidered oak leaf wreath with stylized wings and a woven tri color cockade. The insignia are in very good condition, with the bullion well retained, and showing very little in the way of oxidation. The gray threads that retain the bullion are in very good shape, and the red felt insert is still vibrant.

The visor on this cap is the standard "vulcanfibre", though it does have a crack through on the left side, and shows a good amount of wear around the edge. The black gloss top side shows a fine pattern of checking and crazing on most of the surface, except near where it joins the body of the cap, due to protection from the chin strap. The bottom of the visor is green, as we often see on Luftwaffe visor caps. The edge trim is unfortunately is worn through in many areas, though the stitching is still intact. Above the visor is the correct bullion officer's chin strap, retained by pebbled buttons, which is in fantastic condition.

The interior is lined with fine cream colored rayon faux silk, which does show staining, and the original diamond shaped celluloid sweat shield is completely missing, along with any markings that were present. The stitching is still somewhat present on the crown. The inside of the cap has a very nice natural leather sweatband, which is still quite supple, showing light staining from use. Unfortunately, the stitching holding it in place has almost completely rotted out, and it is only still securely attached on the right side of the visor. The size seems to be about a 57-58cm.

Overall condition is very good, showing signs of moderate use and subsequent long storage. The bullion piping is still in great shape, and there is very little damage to the wool body of the cap of any kind, save for a small repair on the right side of the crown.

A very nice example of a Luftwaffe Technical Supply officer in lovely condition, the first that we have ever had. 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.