Original Item: Only One Available. The SS was originally formed in 1925, ostensibly to act as a small, loyal bodyguard unit to protect the Führer. Under the direction of the Reichsführer-SS Himmler, the SS grew to be the most ruthless and feared organization of the 20th century. They were the vanguard of NSDAP and eventually controlled nearly every function of German life and much of Occupied Europe.

This is a fantastic early pattern German Allgemeine SS Officer’s Tuchmütze Visor Cap in size 57 ½. The body is produced in black Gabardine wool with a black plush velvet center band. The material is in very good condition with some minor wear and no real moth damage that we can see. The cap has the correct three rows of white piping, the top two of which are in excellent condition, with just a bit of age toning discoloration. The lowest row at the bottom of the cap does show wear and staining from sweat and oil exposure, but is still quite solid. All of this is minor, and does nothing to take away from this very handsome cap.

The center band is produced in black velvet and in very good condition. The silvered brass insignia are in wonderful condition, showing a great aged patina with a bit of wear through on the edges, where the brass base metal is visible. Both the Reichsadler and SS Totenkopf skull are tightly attached to the cap, and examining the interior shows no evidence that they have ever been removed from the cap. We were not able to get a scope under them to look for maker markings, but they both fit the pattern correctly.

The silver bullion officer's chinstrap is in very good condition, and is retained by the correct pebbled silver buttons. The black vulkanfibre visor is in great condition, showing a lovely pattern of checking and crazing on the top, proof of the great age. The underside is finished in an orange/brown hue, and bears the correct in stamped ᛋᛋ runes surrounded by R Z M, though one of the runes is partly worn away. The stitching that holds the visor in place is a bit deteriorated, so it is somewhat loose.

The interior of this officer's cap is lined in fine cream colored rayon faux silk, and is marked with size 57 ½ over large ᛋᛋ Doppelte Siegrune (Double Sig/Victory Rune) symbols inside a circle. These are green in color now, but were originally gold, made with bronze powder paint that oxidized over time. The insignia are in good shape, and were originally under the top celluloid sweat shield diamond, which is mostly missing now.

The stitching is however still intact, and this original stitching also holds a lovely early BeVo Embroidered SS RZM tag to the inside of the crown. Research indicates that this type of tag was used before 1938, when the move was made to less expensive paper tags. The tag has both the ((ᛋᛋ)) and ((RZM)) logos, and is marked with Vom Reichsführer SS befohlene Ausführung - "Construction ordered by National Leader of the SS". The tag is totally original and correct.

The cap has a very nice light brown leather sweatband, which is really in good shape, still firmly attached to the cap except in the front near the visor, which the stitching has degraded. Underneath is another RZM production label, which clearly indicates that the cap is a TUCHMÜTZE für SS, and originally gave the contract and maker information, however those have worn away from the tag. There is still however the production number 007374 at the bottom, which could be a possible avenue of further research.

A top quality, early cap, that is in lovely condition, with everything absolutely correct! These do not come along very often at all!

The Allgemeine-SS, (General-SS), was originally formed in May 1923 as the Stosstrupp Adolf AH, (Shock Troops Adolf AH), and was redesignated Schutzstaffel, (Protection Squad), in April 1925 with the official acceptance of the name verified on the second anniversary of the failed Munich "Beer-Hall" Putsch on November 9TH 1925. On January 6TH 1929 Heinrich Himmler was appointed as Reichsführer-SS, (National Leader {of the} SS), and on July 20TH 1934 shortly after the, June 30TH 1934, purge of the SA, Sturm Abteilung, (Storm Troopers) on the "Night of the Long Knives", the SS was rewarded by AH by being granted the status of an independent organization under direct control of the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party). The SS developed the distinctive SS style cap skull and cross bones on October 6TH 1934 and introduced the SS pattern national cap eagle in February 1936. After their introductions the skull and eagle were to be worn on all forms of SS headgear.

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.