Original German WWII Service Worn Heer Army Panzer Armored Corps Officer Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap by Top Maker Peküro

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely "salty" service worn example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Panzer Armored Corps Officer Schirmmütze visor cap, which looks like it came right off the head of a Panzer officer at the end of a long campaign. 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.

The cap has a lovely "Crushed" or "saddle-form" shape that is highly desirable, accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) "doe skin" weave wool construction, very popular with officers, with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. The cap also has matching rose-pink (rosa) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band. This is the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) for the Panzertruppen (Armored Forces), as well as Kraftfahrkampftruppe - Kraftfahrtruppen (Motor Vehicle Combat Troops). It has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer.

It is decorated with a well detailed stamped nickel eagle insignia on the peak and a lovely bullion wreath surrounding a plated zinc alloy tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia have a great aged look, with the peak eagle now displaying a lovely patina, and the cockade shows some plating loss and oxidation. The bullion wreath is still in great shape with some stitching loss as well as oxidation, and the red felt insert in the center of the cockade is lovely as well.

The chin strap is attached with the standard silvered pebbled buttons on either side of the cap, which show some wear and oxidation. The vulcanfibre visor was originally made with a smooth black patent leather-look upper, however that finish has degraded over time, and is now missing in a few areas. It shows checking and crazing throughout, confirming the age and amount of service this cap saw. The underside is a lovely tan color, showing some wear through to the red base material.

The cap is lined with cream colored rayon faux silk, which shows extensive wear and staining form use, with much fraying to the material. The celluloid sweat shield "diamond" is completely missing, with most of the stitching missing as well, however we can still see the faded retailer's logo for Peküro, which originally would have read:-

Peküro
Stirndruckfret
Deutsches Reichspatent

The sweatband is in rough service-worn condition with some tearing and loss of stitching, as well as possible light insect damage. It was most likely originally natural leather, but it is now quite stained from use. It is made from fine natural colored leather, which is in fair condition, showing heavy wear. There is no size marked, but it seems to be about 57-58cm.

The exterior condition of the cap is fair, showing fading and staining from long use in the field. The fuzzy "nap" of the fabric is mostly worn away, and all of the colors on the cap are faded, including the piping, which only really retains the pink color well under the back of the crown. The piping in this area has also suffered some moth damage.

A fantastic "salty" example of the classic hat worn by German Wehrmacht Panzer Officers in WWII, made by the well known maker Peküro! Very impressive and 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.