Original German WWII Heer Army Medical Officer Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap by EREL Extra - Double Marked

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fantastic example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Medical Officer's Schirmmütze (visor cap), made by the legendary EREL company. It is marked on both the inside of the crown and the sweatband, making it a VERY desirable DOUBLE MARKED example! The cap has a lovely "Crushed" or "saddle-form" shape that is highly desirable, normally accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring, however this example still has the ring, it is just contoured to give it a great look. It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) "whipcord" weave wool construction with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. It also has matching medizinblau (medical blue) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band. This is the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) for the Sanitätstruppe (Military medical service). It has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer.

It is decorated with a well detailed stamped aluminum eagle insignia on the peak and and an open aluminum bullion embroidered wreath surrounding a metal tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia are still great, still bright with little wear or damage, though there is loss of the silver wash on the zinc part of the cockade. The chin strap is attached with the standard silvered pebbled buttons on either side of the cap. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting some wear along the edge, and is checkered light brown on the underside. It also has a lovely pattern of crazing and checking on the black enamel finished top, with a bit more advanced deterioration due to age.

The inside of the cap is lined with lovely cream colored sheer fabric, most likely rayon, which shows little to no staining from use. The top celluloid sweat shield diamond in great shape, with only a small corner missing, and the stitching is almost fully retained. The metallic paint on the original logo is completely worn away, but we can still see the EREL trademark logo in reflection:

OFFIZIER
KLEIDERKLASSE
BERLIN
EREL
SonderKlasse
Extra

The cap also has an embossed stamp over the left ear on the sweatband: EREL PATENT / STIRNSCHUTZ, which refers to the "Forehead Protection" of the sweatband design. This means that the sweatband was never replaced, making this a "double marked" example. There is no size marking we can see, but it measures to be about a 59cm / 7 3/8 US. The natural leather sweatband is in very good condition, still soft with no tears or major damage. We looked underneath, but were not able to find any unit or name information. The stitching is fully intact, and the brown "piping" around the sweatband is fully intact.

Overall condition is very good, with the exterior showing just a bit of fading from age and use. The color on the piping is still vibrant, with no signs of mothing, which is quite rare due to how attractive the more open weave is for clothing moths. Really a great example that would be very difficult to improve upon

A great example of a classic hat worn by German Medical Officers in WWII with a fantastic "crushed" shape, double marked by the legendary EREL company. 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.