Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a very nice service used example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army 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) wool gabardine construction with a forest 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 infantry and motorized infantry.

It is decorated with a well detailed silvered stamped alloy eagle insignia on the peak and and an open cast aluminum wreath surrounding a metal tri-color cockade on the band. The cockade still retains the bright red felt center insert, however the silvering on the insignia is all but gone. The cap has the correct black patent leather EM/NCO chin strap with double buckles. The visor / peak on this cap is the typical black-finished "vulcanfibre" pressed composite material, which is unfinished on the bottom.

The inside of the cap is lined with orange lightweight "oil cloth" style fabric. The top plastic sweat shield is partly intact, with cracks and some parts missing. All of the stitching is however still intact, and we can still make out the maker name, even though it is partly missing:

Julius Müller
Leipzig
u.C. = Gohlis

The sweatband is made from gray finished pressed paper, and unfortunately has degraded quite a bit, with 2 inches totally missing, and overall wear to the finish.

The cap definitely saw a lot of service during the war, which has given at a great "salty" service used look, which is simply impossible to duplicate. This is a cap that was "really there", and it has the staining and wear to show it. There is also some light mothing in areas, very common on these caps due to the amount of wool used in their construction.

A great "salty" example of the classic hat worn by German Army Infantry NCOs in WWII. Ready to research and 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.