Original German WWII Luftwaffe 1940 Dated Civil Fire Brigade NCO Visor Cap By Carl Halfar in Size 55 1/2 - Partial Sweatband

Original Item: Only One available. This is a lovely Luftwaffe Civil Fire Brigade NCO's Schirmmütze (Visor Cap), which is dated 1941 and size marked 55½. though it is missing at least 75% of the leather sweatband, which dry rotted and tore out over the years. The celluloid diamond sweat shield inside the crown of the cap is fully intact, with the makers markings still mostly legible underneath:

CARL HALFAR
UNIFORM-MÜTZENFABRIK
BERLIN. 20
Prinzenallee 74
= 55½ =
Lieferjahr 1941

"Lieferjahr" translates to "Delivery Year", so that is when the cap was slated to be delivered to the Luftwaffe. This excellent wartime NCO Visor Cap is a high quality example, and is identical to the standard Feuerschutzpolizei (Fire Protection Police) visor cap in construction, with different insignia. It is fabricated from dark navy blue "doeskin" weave wool, with a wide black velvet plush material cap band. This is flanked by two rows of carmine red (karminrot) color piping around the circumference, and there is another row around the edge of the crown. This is the Protection Police Truppenfarbe (troop color) for the Fire branch.

The peak visor cap retains an excellent, Luftwaffe Civil Employee insignia on the top, which is the standard spread wing Reichsadler eagle. The cap band has a "winged" swas inside a wreath, the civil employee "Wings". The black patent leather NCO chinstrap is still present with the correct gloss black buttons, however the finish and leather have degraded a bit, showing some cracking at the edge and also the finish has "melted" a bit due to age. The visor is a classic vulcanfibre construction example, gloss pattern with very little age at all. It is beige on the underside, and the stitching is fully intact.

The cap is lined with light brown canvas, and has brown oilcloth on the inside of the top, where the previously mentioned sweatshield and markings are. The original brown-finished leather sweatband is however mostly missing, and the few pieces that remain are in delicate condition. There is also a piece from the sweatband of some other cap that was stuck in the cap, probably decades ago.

The exterior of the cap overall is in very good condition, with just a bit of mothing to the piping. The body shows little to no mothing, and just a bit of wear. This is only the second example of one of these Luftwaffe Civic Fire Brigade caps that we have had, and they definitely appear to be very rare. Ready to research and 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.