Original German WWII 1940 Dated Army Heer Medical Officer Schirmmütze Visor Cap - Size 58

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice lightly used example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Officer's Schirmmütze (visor cap), and it really looks the business. It still has the original crown stiffener installed, so the sides have not sunken down excessively over the years, but it still has some of the lovely "saddle-form" shape that everyone loves, as the stiffener is contoured. It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) "doeskin" wool construction with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. The cap also has matching medizinblau (medical blue) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for the Sanitätstruppe (Military medical service).

It is decorated with a very nice bright stamped aluminum alloy eagle insignia on the peak and and an open stamped aluminum wreath surrounding an aluminum tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia are all bright and shiny, showing just a bit of age, and the red felt insert on the cockade is still vibrant. It has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer. The chin strap is attached with the standard silvered buttons on either side of the cap. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting light wear along the edge and is checkered brown on the underside. It has a lovely pattern of very fine crazing and checking on the black finish near the edge.

The cap is lined with lovely light beige rayon fabric, which shows very little wear or staining of any kind. The diamond celluloid "sweat shield" on the top is still fully intact with complete stitching, however there are no maker markings that we can see, just a faint 1940 date and size 58, both of which are underneath the plastic. The sweatband is made from tan finished leather, and is in excellent condition, still supple and with all the stitching still intact. We checked underneath, and the only markings we could see were XI L 38, though some parts are illegible.

Overall condition is really very good, close to excellent, showing very little in the way of wear or fading, and there is no mothing that we can see. A great example of the classic hat worn by German Army Medical Officers in WWII with a great "saddle-form" shape. Ready to display!

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, issued 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.