Original German WWII Luftwaffe Officer Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap with Bullion Insignia by Top Maker Peküro - Peter Küpper

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely Luftwaffe Offiziersränge Schirmmütze (Officer Ranks Visor Cap), with great hand embroidered bullion insignia, which really looks the business. It was made by the firm of Peter Küpper, Wuppertal-Ronsdorf, under their very desirable Peküro label, one of the scarcer makers of these. This company was a "Top Five" maker during the WWII period, up there with EREL and Wilhelm Welhausen, and caps made by them were desirable then as they are now. It shows signs of moderate use in service, but no abuse, giving it a fantastic aged look. A wonderful honest used example with a fantastic "Crushed" or "saddle-form" shape that is highly desirable, accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring.

This Officer's Schirmmütze Visor Cap is a very high quality manufactured example. Fabricated in Luftwaffe blue gray Fliegerblau (Flier's Blue) "whipcord" weave wool gabardine, with a wide black ribbed wool cap band and three rows of fine silver bullion piping around the circumference. It is fronted by a heavily bullion embroidered Luftwaffe insignia pair that includes a silver bullion Luftwaffe eagle on charcoal gray wool backing above a high relief silver bullion oak leaf wreath with stylized wings and a woven tri color cockade. The insignia are in very good condition, with the bullion well retained, showing the expected oxidation to the aluminum bullion, particularly around the cockade. The gray threads that retain the bullion are in very good shape, and are fully intact, and the red felt insert is still relatively vibrant.

The visor on this cap is the standard "vulcanfibre" with a lovely gloss top, which shows just a bit age-related degradation, and the bottom is textured black. It also still has the black patent faux leather trim around the edge retained almost completely. The stitching for the visor is still fully intact, and it is firmly attached to the body of the cap. Above the visor is the correct bullion officer's chin strap, retained by pebbled buttons, which is in fantastic condition.

The cap is lined with lovely brown colored rayon faux silk, which shows staining from use. The underside of the crown does not have a celluloid sweat shield, and doesn’t appear to have ever had one. The original retailer’s logo for Peküro is still intact and clear, with sweat-staining having faded it a small bit. It reads:

Peküro
Stirndruckfrei
Deutsches Reichspatent

The inside of the cap has a very nice brown leather sweatband, which is still in great shape, supple with no major cracks or tears, though there is some pulling of the stitching that attaches it to the black velvet spacer around the edge. There are some markings on the underside, but the only one we could make out is 1 7/8, which does not really make any sense. There is no size marked, but the cap seems to be about a 58cm - US 7 1/4.

Overall condition is very good, showing signs of moderate use and subsequent long storage. The bullion piping is still in great shape, and there is very little damage to the wool body of the cap of any kind, though it does show some staining on the top.

A truly quality Luftwaffe officer in lovely condition with silver bullion embroidered insignia, made by the well known maker Peküro!. 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.