Original Item: Only One available. This is a very nice German WWII SA "Stormtrooper" Kepi (Dienstmütze), often called a "Coffee Can Hat." It is made of "doeskin" weave light felt type canvas, with a dark brown felt top and silver insignia on the front. This indicates use by the SA Gruppe Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), a district in north central Germany, which was formed from the eastern part of Province of Hanover and Brunswick, with the principal city being Hannover.

Before 1939, to help differentiate the different SA groups, the top of these caps, as well as the collar tabs, were issued in a variety of colors. Additionally, the "button" or "pip" on the front of the cap could be silver or gold, which matched the color of the uniform buttons, which allowed colors to be used more than once. Fortunately there were only two blues in this system, easily differentiated.

These caps were worn by SA personnel, especially the "Stormtrooper" groups. It is made from heavy tan canvas, with an aluminum Reichsadler (National Eagle) on the front top. There is a nice dark brown leather chinstrap, held in place by the correct chocolate brown buttons. The interior has an orange oil cloth crown lining without a size marking that we can find, with a brown pressed paper faux leather sweatband.

The inside of the cap under the sweatband still bears its original fabric RZM tag, which is very faded and difficult to read. The tag identifies the cap as a Dienstmütze (Service Cap) features the RZM logo as well the field for Hersteller (manufacturer), which is illegible, over lot number 428096.

Condition of the kepi is very good, and it still retains the original shape well. It comes with a nice bent board insert to help preserve the shape, which definitely has helped keep the shape in the past. The pressed paper sweatband shows some degradation and is stiff, showing a few tears, including one in the forehead area. The exterior has some light moth damage to the dark brown felt, however the canvas is in very good shape, with light staining and wear. The oil cloth crown is still fully intact, and the brim does not have any cracks or folds, though there is wear and fraying to the fabric around the edges. These are rare in any condition, and this is definitely a very good example.

A hard to find SA Stormtrooper Kepi, ready to display!

Sturmabteilung, literally Storm Detachment, was the NSDAP Party's original paramilitary. It played a significant role in Adolf AH's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for NSDAP rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Red Front Fighters League (Rotfrontkämpferbund) of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), and intimidating Romani, trade unionists, and, especially, Jews – for instance, during the NSDAP boycott of Jewish businesses.

The SA were also called the "Brownshirts" (Braunhemden) from the color of their uniform shirts, similar to Benito Mussolini's blackshirts. The SA developed pseudo-military titles for its members, with ranks that were later adopted by several other NSDAP Party groups, chief amongst them the Schutzstaffel (SS), which originated as a branch of the SA before being separated. Brown-colored shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large number of them were cheaply available after World War I, having originally been ordered during the war for colonial troops posted to Germany's former African colonies.

The SA became disempowered after Adolf AH ordered the "blood purge" of 1934. This event became known as the Night of the Long Knives (die Nacht der langen Messer). The SA continued to exist, but was effectively superseded by the SS, although it was not formally dissolved until after NSDAP Germany's final capitulation to the Allies in 1945.