Original German WWII Heer Army Sonderführer Civilian Special Leader Officer Schirmmütze Visor Cap by Deutsche Wertarbeit

Original Item: Only One Available. The Sonderführer ("special leader"), or Sonderführer mit militärischer Kommandobefugnis, ("special leader with military command power"), often abbreviated Sdf or Sf, was a specialist role introduced in the Wehrmacht of Germany in 1937 for the mobilization plan of the German armed forces. This allowed the the competence of civil experts and specialists to be exploited for military purposes. Certain assignments could be filled, from senior officers, company-grade officers, down to non-commissioned officer (NCO) ranks.

A huge variation of service functions, e.g. in foreign languages, propaganda work, medical service, veterinary service and the like, was possible. Typically, the men were not trained as soldiers. They received the pay applicable to the position they were holding, but only by virtue of their temporary appointment. As a rule, Sonderführer were not allowed to execute the command and disciplinary powers vested in the rank. However, this was changed in 1942, during World War II.

The uniforms and caps worn by Sonderführer personnel was based on the Heer Army design, however with differences that made them easily recognizable as not being a member of the regular army. This mainly was accomplished by the style of rank insignia, as well as the Waffenfarbe (Corps Colors) used, which was dunkelgrün (dark green) for Beamte am Kriegsdauer und Sonderführer (Officials during the War and Special leaders). Additionally, the center band of the visor caps they war was altered to be blaugrau (blue gray) instead of the usual flaschengrün (dark bottle green).

This is a lovely example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Sonderführer Civilian Special Leader Officer's Schirmmütze (visor cap), which has a great lightly used look. It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) "whipcord" weave wool construction with a blue gray (blaugrau) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. The cap also has matching slightly lighter blue gray colored piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Sonderführer Civilian Special Leaders. The cap has a lovely rumpled "Crushed" or "saddle-form" shape that is highly desirable, accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It also has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer.

It is decorated with a well detailed aluminum eagle insignia on the peak and and an open aluminum wreath surrounding a metal tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia are still bright with minimal wear, except for the cockade which is oxidized, and the red felt insert in the cockade is vibrant and damage free. The aluminum silver bullion chinstrap is in great shape, with no oxidation or fraying we can see. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting light wear along the edge and is checkered brown on the underside. The top of the visor has a lovely pattern of fine crazing and checking, which only happens after decades, and shows a few areas of more significant degradation. It is still firmly attached to the body of the cap.

The interior of the cap is lined with lovely light blue gray rayon material, similar to what we sometimes see lining Heer army tunics. The lining shows very little in the way of wear or staining from use, and the celluloid diamond sweat shield is fully intact with complete stitching, and is marked Deutsche Wertarbeit (German Craftsmanship), a marking we see on a lot of different caps. The sweatband is brown finished pressed paper faux leather, and shows some wrinkling and tears from use and age. We looked inside and were not able to find any markings, and the size seems to be about a 56-57cm.

Overall condition of the cap is very good, with the colors well retained, and showing light to moderate use during the war. It is mostly free from mothing, except for some areas on the cap band and piping. The loose weave is more appealing to moths, and the crown keeps the sides dark, so this is a common area to see damage like this.

A very nice example of a hard to find Civilian Special Leaders visor cap, ready to display!

More on the Sonderführer "Special Leaders":
Draftees were called up for Sonderführer to almost all branches of service (Heer, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine) or special forces, equivalent to assignments or appointment of military personnel in the hierarchy of the Wehrmacht.

Officer function assignments in the hierarchy of the Heer (Army)
- Sonderführer (B), equivalent to Major / Oberstleutnant (OF-3/-4),
- Sonderführer (K), equivalent to Captain / Hauptmann or Rittmeister (OF-2),
- Sonderführer (Z), equivalent to Leutnant / Oberleutnant (OF-1) or platoon leader.

NCO function assignments in the hierarchy of the Heer (Army)
- Sonderführer (O), also Dolmetscher O (en: Interpreter O), equivalent to an Oberfeldwebel (OR-7),
- Sonderführer (G), equivalent to an Unteroffizier (OR-4).

Sonderführer were mainly deployed:
- As interpreter
- In construction engineering
- In the field of public finance, and administration tasks
- To handle scientific tasks, e.g. as archaeology or curator
- In the field of agriculture science
- Railway transport, in particular field railways
- In case of professional expertise as photographer or draughtsman, the corresponding draftee could be called up as a Sonderführer to a so-called Propaganda unit of the Wehrmacht.

An example of individual influence in the occupied territories is the case of Sonderführer Leo Weisgerber. His campaign to unify the Breton language has had a lasting influence in the French region of Brittany

Position and status
Sonderführer were called up to military service to use the skills and expertise of specialists on defined function positions. This status was limited as to time, and became revocable if a military trained soldier could fill this position. In this case, the Sonderführer was fit into the "regular" military training procedure etc. The former function position as Sonderführer – which contained a service "assignment" not including a service "grade" – remained without consideration.

By order in 1942 – Sonderführer on officer assignments received regular military training, in order to join the reserve officer corps. Therefore, the limitations to execute military command – and disciplinary powers were lifted.

The legal state of the Sonderführer was equivalent to those of a soldier in the meaning of the Service Act Legislation. Therefore, they held combatant status even prior to their appointment as commissioned officers in 1942. In the pension legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany Sonderführers are explicit equivalent to regular soldiers.

Russian emigrants who served as interpreters in the Wehrmacht, often were adjudged to Sonderführer status.

Rank insignia
Sonderführer of the Wehrmacht wore the standard military uniform but their collars and cap bands were blue-grey rather than army green, with unique shoulder and collar insignia. The collar patch was blue-grey with a gable-end device like that of Beamter a. K. in matte aluminium, with aluminium braid down the center. Epaulette patterns changed twice during the war. The original patterns, worn until March 1940 and again after December 1942, were narrow versions of army shoulder boards: a single doubled strip of aluminium braid for company-grade officer equivalents, and a single braided strip for field-officer equivalents; NCO equivalents were similar to junior officers' but green. Instead of rank pips, Sonderführer wore braided gold rings encircling the shoulder straps. From 1940 to 1942 an entirely different type of shoulder board was worn: this was like the army equivalent but the braid used incorporated repeating black-white-red chevrons, giving the whole a checkered look. Ordinary rank pips and specialization pins were worn with these "Second Regulation" epaulets. At the end of 1942 the narrow first-pattern epaulettes were brought back again.

In soldier's slang Sonderführers, as well as Wehrmacht officials and military chaplains, were called "narrow-gauge officers" (German: Schmalspuroffiziere), in a witty reference both to the form of their rank insignia and the limited width of their military knowledge.

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.