Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a lovely service used example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Artillery EM/NCO Schirmmütze visor cap, made by the very desirable EREL company. It has a lovely "Crushed" saddle-form shape, which is highly desirable, and accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. The cap features soft feldgrau (field gray) "doeskin" wool construction, with a dark bottle-green (flaschengrün) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. The also has matching Hochrot (Deep Red) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Artillery, as well as General Level Officers. As this is an EM/NCO cap, this is definitely for an Artillery, Assault Gun, or Heavy Flak soldier.

It is decorated with a well detailed aluminum eagle insignia on the peak and an open silvered aluminum wreath surrounding metal a tri-color cockade on the band. The eagle and wreath are still in great shape, while the metal cockade has oxidized and patinated over the years, still retaining the red mesh inlay. 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 some degradation to the finish, which is very common over the years.

The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, which shows some age and has just a bit of finish damage at the very edge. It has a lovely pattern of checking and crazing on the top. The underside is checkered tan with some light staining, and the visor is still firmly attached to the body of the cap. The brown leather sweatband is in good condition, with what looks to be fully intact stitching, though the leather is now stiff. Size is approximately US 7 1/8 (57cm).

The cap is lined with lovely cream rayon faux silk, and still retains the celluloid diamond sweat shield in the crown, though it has torn away on the upper half. Under this it still bears a faded EREL trademark logo, with the silver stamping still partly retained:

The cap also has an embossed stamp over the left ear on the sweatband: „Erel“ Stirnshutz / D.R.G.M. / D.R.P. angem., which refers to the "Forehead Protection" of the sweatband design. The additional abbreviations indicate that it is a trademarked and protected design. This means that the sweatband was never replaced, making this a great "double marked" example.

The name tag slot of the cap still has an intact paper label, which gives the name as Eifert, and their unit as 1. / Bb. 9, indicating that they were with a Beobachtungsbatterie (Observation battery) unit. It is possible with this information that the original owner could be identified!

Condition of the cap is very good, with the colors retained very well, though it definitely does show significant wear from service. This has given it a lovely "been there" patina that is simply impossible to duplicate. It was "really there", and shows it!

A very nice EREL produced example of the classic hat worn by a German Army Artillery NCOs in WWII, named to a soldier in an Observation battery. 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.