Original German WWII Schutzpolizei Protection Police Black EM/NCO M38 Overseas Cap with Chinstrap - Schiffchen

Original Item: Only One Available. The Ordnungspolizei, abbreviated Orpo, meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in NSDAP Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organization was absorbed into the NSDAP monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favor of the central government ("Reich-ification", Verreichlichung, of the police). The Orpo was controlled, nominally by the Interior Ministry but its executive functions rested with the leadership of the SS until the end of World War II. Owing to their green uniforms, Orpo were also referred to as Grüne Polizei (green police). The force was first established as a centralized organization uniting the municipal, city, and rural uniformed police that had been organized on a state-by-state basis.

The Schutzpolizei des Reiches or the Schupo was the state protection police of NSDAP Germany and a branch of the Ordnungspolizei. Schutzpolizei is the German name for a uniformed police force. The Schutzpolizei des Reiches was the uniformed police of most cities and large towns.

This is a very good condition example of a German WWII Schutzpolizei (Protection police) EM/NCO M38 overseas cap (Schiffchen). The overseas cap, nicknamed in German military slang as Schiffchen, or literally "little ship" as it resembled an up-turned row-boat, was standard issue for for all military and many of the civic organizations of the NSDAP as well.

This interesting example is constructed of a black cotton twill exterior, and does not have any troop colors or other identifying markings except for the civic police insignia on the front of the scalloped flap. The interior of the cap is lined with black cotton of a different weave than the exterior, and is completely unmarked. It has an elastic chinstrap with snaps, something that we have not seen before. As best we can tell, it looks to have been originally made with the chinstrap, which is sewn to eyelets under the flap. There is no size marking on the cap, but it measures approximately 30.5cm in length. Condition is very good, looking to have seen only light use during the WWII period.

A hard to find Black Protection Police EM/NCO M38 Overseas cap with chinstrap, ready to research and display!

The Ordnungspolizei encompassed virtually all of NSDAP Germany's law-enforcement and emergency response organizations, including fire brigades, coast guard, and civil defense. In the prewar period, Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, and Kurt Daluege, chief of the Order Police, cooperated in transforming the police force of the Weimar Republic into militarized formations ready to serve the regime's aims of conquest and racial annihilation. Police troops were first formed into battalion-sized formations for the invasion of Poland, where they were deployed for security and policing purposes, also taking part in executions and mass deportations. During World War II, the force had the task of policing the civilian population of the occupied and colonized countries beginning in spring 1940.