Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a great extra large size 60 ½ example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Pioneer Combat Engineer EM/NCO Schirmmütze (visor cap), with a lovely "Crushed" shape. This "saddle-form" shape is highly desirable, and accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) "whipcord" weave wool construction with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. It also has matching Schwarz (Black) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band. This is the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) for the Pioniere (Combat engineers), as well as Assault, Armored, Fortress, and Railway engineers.

It is decorated with a well detailed stamped zinc insignia on the peak and and an open aluminum wreath surrounding an aluminum tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia are in good shape, with the wreath still bright, while the eagle has matured to a gray patina due to the original plating oxidizing. The cockade still retains the red felt inlay, which is still a vibrant red color. The cap has the correct black patent leather EM/NCO chin strap with double buckles, which shows crazing/checking in the finish, as well as the "melting" sometimes seen.. The visor / peak on this cap is the brown on the underside. The top of the visor also shows the same degradation as the chinstrap, and the underlying material is visible in places. It is however still firmly attached to the body of the cap.

The cap is lined with orange "service cloth" type material, which is in very good condition, showing light overall staining from use. The celluloid diamond sweat shield is fully intact with complete stitching, and the size is marked as 60½ underneath, a very large size that we seldom see. The brown finished leather liner is in very good condition, and still attached over much of the circumference. The leather is still supple, with the only discrepancy being some wear around the edges on the rear. It also has a lovely maker marking on the underside, which reads:

Clemens Wagner
Braunschweig
1938

There is also a retailer stamping as well:

Franz Ritter
vorm.
CARL ROTH
Dettingen
1938

Overall condition is just lovely, with a fantastic "broken in" look. The colors are very well retained, and there is no major staining on the exterior. The crown has really slumped down over the years, giving it that fantastic classic look.

This is a very nice, high quality German Heer Pioneer EM/NCO peak visor cap, offered for sale in very good condition. 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, issued 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.