Original German WWII Heer Army Artillery EM/NCO Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap with Faded Markings

Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a very nice example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Artillery EM/NCO Schirmmütze (visor cap), with a lovely "Crushed" shape. This rumpled "saddle-form" shape is highly desirable, and accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) "doeskin" weave wool construction with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. The also has matching Hochrot (Deep Red) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Artillery, as well as General Level Officers. As this is an EM/NCO cap, this is definitely for an Artillery, Assault Gun, or Heavy Flak soldier.

It is decorated with a well detailed stamped aluminum Wehrmachtadler eagle on the peak and and an open aluminum wreath surrounding a metal tri-color cockade on the band. The aluminum insignia are all in very good shape, still bright, while the plated metal cockade has oxidation and plating and loss, though the red insert in the cockade is still vibrant. The dual-buckled black leather chinstrap, designating the wearer to be an enlisted man, is attached to black lacquered buttons on either side. It shows some degradation to the finish, which can happen as the patent leather finish "melts" over time. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting wear along the edge and is checkered beige on the underside. It has a lovely pattern of light crazing and checking on the top surface from age.

The cap is lined with cream-colored rayon twill faux silk, which is in very good condition, showing overall wear and light staining. It has detached from under the sweatband in areas, though we do not see any tears or serious material degradation. The celluloid diamond sweat shield is completely missing, as is much of the original stitching that held it in place. We can however still see the faint imprint of the original maker marking on the inside of the lining, which was originally probably stamped in metallic paint. The natural leather sweatband is still fully intact, and has matured to a lovely chestnut brown color. There is some degradation of the stitching that holds it in place, and also there is soiling from sweat and oil to the black fabric it is attached to.

Overall condition is just lovely, with a fantastic "broken in" look. There is just a bit of fading to the colors, but nothing out of line with wear from service and storage. We don't see any real moth nips or other damage from misuse. We measured the inside of the cap, and it comes out to about size 55cm.

A great broken in example of the classic hat worn by German Artillery NCOs in WWII, very impressive and 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, 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.