Original Item: Only One Available. This is a great Genuine WWII German HJ Marine Members Tellermütze (Flat Cap), usually referred to as a Donald Duck hat. This basic design was popular worldwide, and used by many countries. These caps were worn by all Junior NCO's and enlisted men in the German Kriegsmarine, so the same caps were used by the HJ Marine, with the only real difference being the insignia. This cap has an HJ Diamond Cap badge on the front, which is maker marked on the back RZM M1/72, for Fritz Zimmermann of Stuttgart.

The bottom of the cap is dark navy blue, and has a blue HJ cap tally with 1/13 Münster 1/13 machine embroidered onto it, which would be the HJ unit that the owner was with. This style of cap has a removable crown, so the band was designed to be rather stiff, which helps hold on the top portion. This way the sailor would only have to buy one cap, and use different colors depending on the color uniform they were wearing. This cap is fitted with a lovely white corduroy "summer" style top, which can be removed.

The inside of the cap is lined with cream yellow rayon, and still has a fully intact sweat shield celluloid diamond on the top, which shows the maker's name and trademark logo:

A G
(Lighthouse Emblem)
KIEL
Eingetr. Schutzm.
AUG. GEIGER
Kiel
Dänische-Str. 24

Kiel was the main port and shipyard of Germany, so this is exactly where you would expect to find top class naval outfitters. The sweatband is tan leather and in fantastic shape, and the size of the cap is about a 56cm.

Overall the cap is in really great condition, showing little sign of use to the liner. The cap tally shows a bit more wear and staining, with a few holes and minor tears. The white "summer" corduroy top has a bit of age toning and light staining, but still looks great!

A classic piece of German WWII Naval headgear used by the HJ Marine, ready to display!

In 1922, the Munich-based NSDAP established its official youth organization called Jugendbund der NSDAP. It was announced on 8 March 1922 in the Völkischer Beobachter, and its inaugural meeting took place on 13 May the same year. Another youth group was established in 1922 as the Jungsturm Adolf “AH”. Based in Munich, Bavaria, it served to train and recruit future members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the main paramilitary wing of the NSDAP Party at that time.

One reason the HJ so easily developed was that regimented organizations, often focused on politics, for young people and particularly adolescent boys were a familiar concept to German society in the Weimar Republic. Numerous youth movements existed across Germany prior to and especially after World War I. They were created for various purposes. Some were religious and others were ideological, but the more prominent ones were formed for political reasons, like the Young Conservatives and the Young Protestants. Once AH came onto the revolutionary scene, the transition from seemingly innocuous youth movements to political entities focused on AH was swift.

Following the abortive Beer Hall Putsch (in November 1923), NSDAP youth groups ostensibly disbanded, but many elements simply went underground, operating clandestinely in small units under assumed names. In April 1924, the Jugendbund der NSDAP was renamed Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung (Greater German Youth Movement). On 4 July 1926, the Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung was officially renamed HJ Bund der deutschen Arbeiterjugend (HJ League of German Worker Youth). This event took place a year after the NSDAP Party was reorganised. The architect of the re-organization was Kurt Gruber, a law student from Plauen in Saxony.

After a short power struggle with a rival organization—Gerhard Roßbach's Schilljugend—Gruber prevailed and his "Greater German Youth Movement" became the NSDAP Party's official youth organisation. In July 1926, it was renamed H -Jugend, Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend ("H” Youth, League of German Worker Youth") and, for the first time, it officially became an integral part of the SA. The name H -Jugend was taken up on the suggestion of Hans Severus Ziegler. By 1930, the Hjugend (HJ) had enlisted over 25,000 boys aged 14 and upward. They also set up a junior branch, the Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ), for boys aged 10 to 14. Girls from 10 to 18 were given their own parallel organization, the League of German Girls (BDM).

In April 1932, Chancellor Heinrich Brüning banned the H Youth movement in an attempt to stop widespread political violence. However, in June, Brüning's successor as Chancellor, Franz von Papen, lifted the ban as a way of appeasing “AH”, the rapidly ascending political star. A further significant expansion drive started in 1933, after Baldur von Schirach was appointed by H as the first Reichsjugendführer (Reich Youth Leader). All youth organizations were brought under Schirach's control.