Original Item: Only One Available. This is a an excellent example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Infantry Officer Schirmmütze visor cap, which really looks the business. It made by Robert Lubstein under their very desirable EREL brand, a top class maker of headwear during the war, and retailed by an outfitter in Weimar, Germany. 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 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). 

The cap 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, and it also has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer. It is decorated with a well detailed stamped zinc eagle insignia on the peak and and an open silvered aluminum wreath surrounding a plated steel tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia have a great aged look, with the peak eagle now displaying a dull zinc patina, and the cockade shows some plating loss and oxidation. The aluminum wreath is still bright, and the red mesh in the center of the cockade is lovely as well.

The chin strap is attached with the standard silvered buttons on either side of the cap, which show some wear and oxidation. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black patent leather-look upper, exhibiting light wear along the edge and is tan on the underside, showing some wear through the finish. The top has a lovely pattern of checking and crazing, which only happens after decades.

The cap is lined with lovely cream colored rayon faux silk, which shows light staining from use. The underside of the crown has a fully intact diamond-shaped celluloid sweat shield, with just a bit of stitch pulling. Underneath it shows a clear Retailer logo over the Erel trademark logo in silver:

The cap also has an embossed maker marking on the left side of the sweatband that reads: „Erel“ Stirnshutz / D.R.G.M. / D.R.P. angem., which refers to the "Forehead Protection" of the sweatband design. This means that the sweatband was never replaced, making this a "double marked" example. It is made from fine natural colored leather, which is in excellent condition, showing only light wear and the stitching is fully intact. There is no size marked, but it seems to be about a 57-58cm.

Exterior condition of the cap is excellent, and looks to be virtually unissued, with any condition issues due to age and storage. There is no moth damage we can see, and all of the colors are still vibrant. There is light overall wear on the exterior.

A lovely example of the classic hat worn by German Wehrmacht Infantry Officers in WWII, made by the legendary Erel Company! 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.