Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original German WWII era National Forestry Service Deutscher Schützenhut felt hunting hat manufactured by Meyer & Römer of Frankfurt. It is made from green felt with a darker forest green hat band and edge trim, and retains its silver colored spread winged Reich eagle, painted tricolor cockade, and horsehair plume. The interior carries the Meyer & Römer maker marking and PARFORCE hunting horn logo, and the hat measures approximately 56cm.

The hat follows the traditional German hunting style widely used by forestry and hunting organizations during the Third Reich period. The crown is formed from green felt and wrapped with a darker forest green felt band around the base, and has the same color trim around the edge of the brim.

The front is fitted with a silver colored spread winged Reich eagle. On the left side, the band carries a painted tricolor cockade mounted at the base of a horsehair plume. Similar hat styles were worn by personnel associated with German forestry and organized hunting services during the period.

The use of silver colored insignia is consistent with official and lower command grade forestry headgear, while gold colored insignia was used on certain senior rank configurations. Without additional uniform insignia or documentation, however, this individual hat should not be assigned to a specific rank solely from the eagle finish.

The interior retains a brown finished leather sweatband. One side is stamped in gold script:

Meyer & Römer
Frankfurt

The opposite side carries a hunting horn trademark with:

PARFORCE

The term parforce refers to the traditional mounted form of stag hunting in which packs of hounds pursued game, and the hunting horn became closely associated with that style of the hunt. No original size marking was located inside the hat. Measured with a hat sizing tool, it is approximately:

56cm

Overall condition is very good. The green felt retains strong color with no major moth damage visible. The darker hat band, insignia, cockade, and plume remain present and display well. The leather sweatband shows only light wear, including minor finish loss and some age related cracking.

With its traditional green felt construction, silver colored Reich eagle, tricolor cockade, horsehair plume, Meyer & Römer of Frankfurt maker marking, PARFORCE hunting horn logo, and measured 56cm size, this is a strong example of German WWII era forestry and hunting headgear. The light sweatband wear and cracking are fully disclosed. It would fit especially well in a German Forestry Service, hunting organization, Third Reich civilian uniform, or advanced WWII headgear collection.

The Forstverein (Forestry Association) was a civil union, founded in 1899, whose members were either Foresters or Forest owners and was founded to give more "power" to their interests when dealing with the Governments of the states or the Reich. Their "targets" were mainly economical with some "spreads" of caring for nature and forests. The aim of the association was: to take care of the German forest, the promotion of forest economy and science and the exchange of personal ideas. After the NSDAP took over Germany, the various Forestry Groups were folded under the NSDAP umbrella.

The Forstschutzkommando (FSK), or simply Forstschutz was a uniformed and armed para-military security formation raised in late 1939. Composed of some 10,000 volunteers, it was recruited from forestry officials and forest workers and headed by Landesforstmeister Ernst Boden. Hermann Göring, as the Reichsforstmeister, was its "supreme commander".

After having received brief training, the first 2,000 so-called Forstschützen were put into action in wooded areas in occupied Poland. Here, they provided security for lumber transports and -storage places and sawmills, as well as being employed to combat wood-thieves and poachers and to arrest "unauthorized" persons in the forests. They were authorized to use firearms in the case of resistance or attempted escapes.

In July 1941, the Forstschutz took charge of the Bialowies forest, a former hunting ground of the Czar and important area for the lumber industry. The civilian population was evacuated from Göring's new Reichsforst, with their villages and farms being burnt to the ground and two small Jewish communities being liquidated as well.

In the summer of 1942, Forstschutz units were dispatched to the Reichs Commissariats of "Ostland" and the Ukraine. Here, they were used in anti-partisan operations, suffering significant casualties in the process themselves.

Apart from their original security tasks and anti-partisan operations, Forstschutz personnel were involved in the capture and liquidation of Jews, who had managed to keep from being arrested or who had escaped from Ghettoes and were hiding in the forests. Apparently, Forstschutz men were also actively involved in the liquidation of Jewish Ghettoes if regular SS- and Police forces were not available.

Later, during the large-scale German fighting retreat, Forstschutz units even participated in military combat engagements in an infantry role.