Original Item: Only One Available. This isa lovely example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Infantry EM/NCO Schirmmütze (visor cap). It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) "doeskin" weave wool construction with a dark bottle-green (flaschengrün) "badge cloth" band and a traditional high forward crown. The cap also has matching Weiß (white) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Infanterie (Infantry) and Motorisiert Infanterie (Motorized Infantry). It still has the stiffener ring around the crown to maintain the shape, though it has still sunk a bit, giving it a nice gently sloped look.

It is decorated with a well detailed silvered stamped zinc eagle insignia on the peak and and an open silvered alloy wreath surrounding a plated metal tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia look great, showing a lovely aged patina, with some oxidation and flaking, giving them a great "been there" look. The red felt insert in the cockade is still relatively vibrant, and does not show any damage. The dual-buckled black leather chinstrap, designating the wearer to be an enlisted man, is attached to black lacquered buttons on either side. The finish has degraded a bit, and it now has a lovely pattern of cracking and checking throughout. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting light wear along the edge and is brown on the underside. The top of the visor has a lovely pattern of crazing and checking, which only happens after decades.

The brown leather sweatband is still supple, with the stitching still intact most of the way around the edge, with some repairs on the forehead area. It shows sweat and oil staining on this area from use, but no major deterioration, though the rubber padding under the forehead vents has crumbled to pieces. The interior of the cap is lined with light brown rayon twill material, and the original celluloid sweat shield diamond is almost completely missing. The stitching for it is still retained, and the inner crown is marked with Stirndruckfrei Deutsches Reichspatent, indicating that it is a patented "Forehead Pressure Free" design. The underside of the sweatband is faintly marked with size 56.

Exterior condition is very nice, showing just only light wear and age toning. We do not see any major moth damage or staining, and it looks to have seen only light use during the war.

A very nice example of the classic hat worn by German Army Infantry NCOs in WWII, 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.