Original Item: Only One available. This is a lovely condition Luftwaffe Flak Artillery EM/NCO Schirmmütze Visor Cap, which is size marked 57 on the underside of the sweatband. This wonderful honest 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) "whipcord" 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 is some chipping to the finish of the buttons, which happens over time. The leather also shows some "melting" and cracking to the finish, which is typical age related degradation. The visor looks to be made of pressed paper or some variety of vulcanfibre, and has a love pattern of checking and crazing due to age. The underside is black in color, and the original edge trim is fully present, however it has some cracking and the stitching on the center has pulled out. We can see that some of the stitching holding it in place has been redone, and it is relatively loosely attached to the body.

The inside of the cap is lined with lovely cream colored rayon faux silk, which shows only light staining. The original celluloid sweat shield diamond is still mostly present, however it has cracked in several places, with part towards the rear missing. There is no maker logo, but we can see remnants of Stirndruckfrei / Deutschesreichspatent (forehead pressure free - German Patent) on the surface of the remnants. There is a paper label in the name tag slot, which looks to read Karl Becker. The sweatband is made of gray finished leather, and is in very good condition considering the age, showing wear and staining from use, with only a small tear on the forehead vent area. The stitching holding it in place has degraded a bit.

Overall condition is very nice, still retaining the colors very well, with just a bit of staining around the edge of the crown. It looks to have been well cared for over the years, and we cannot really see any moth damage.

This is a great Luftwaffe Flak Artillery EM/NCO peaked visor cap, offered in very good used condition. Ready to research and 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.