Original German WWII HJ Summer Overseas Cap with Red "General-HJ" Piping and RZM Tag - HJ Sommer Mütze

Original Item: Only One Available. AH believed German youth to be the future of his 3rd Reich. The HJ (AH Jugend or HJ) National Youth Organization was formed officially in 1935, and with the exception of NSDAP ideology indoctrination was very similar to the Boy Scouts. Beginning at about the age of ten years, both boys aged 14-18 (AH Jugend) and girls aged 14-18 (Bund Deutscher Mädel) were enlisted in the Party-run organization. Within the organization, a degree of military style ranks were maintained, as well as the various "corps" or branches that existed in the Wehrmacht.

This is a lovely "salty" service used example of a HJ youth overseas cap or Allgemeine jugend Sommer-Mütze (General HJ summer cap). It is a cotton "whipcord weave" twill tan colored cap with hochrot (Deep Red or Scarlet) piping, which indicates they wearer was in the General-HJ Branch. The front features an early pattern SA-Style Reichsadler eagle on the top, over an enamel HJ cap badge diamond insignia, which has the usual safety pin style attachment, and is RZM marked on the back with M1 / 148. This indicates manufacture by Heinrich Ulbrichts Witwe of Wien (Vienna), Austria. After the annexation of Austria in 1938, the Assmann company took over as the majority shareholder in Heinrich Ulbricht's Witwe GmbH, and expanded the company between 1938 and 1940. Most of these that we have had in the past were the later types without the SA eagle and with BeVo insignia.

The interior of the cap is lined with orange "service cloth" type material, which shows light use and staining. The bottom of the cap has a brown finished leather sweatband still present, which shows wear consistent with use in the field, as well as some stitch pulling and insect damage in a few places. The cap still bears a original fabric RZM tag, which indicates that the cap is a SOMMERMÜTZE (Summer Cap) made per the RJF regulations. The HJ logo is on the left, while the RZM logo is on the right. There is the Hersteller (supplier) number A 1 / 17 followed by lot number B ✱ 122808. The bottom of the tag lists the regulations that the cap was made in compliance with. We checked the cap and were not able to locate any type of size marking. It measures 26.5cm long when laid flat.

Overall condition shows a good amount of use while in service, with wear and stains to the exterior on both sides, along with some small holes. The red piping is wool, and has suffered mothing overall, as the loose weave is highly attractive.

This lovely service used early style HJ cap would make a wonderful piece for any German WW2 collection. Ready to research and display!