Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a very nice example of an early pattern German WWII DRKB EM / NCO Schirmmütze (visor cap), in very good condition. We estimate that it was made during 1933-1938, before it was merged with the Soldatenbund (Registered Soldier’s League) to form the NS-RKB. It features dark navy wool construction and a traditional high forward crown. The cap band is a lovely BeVO embroidered style in black, which has embroidered NSDAP Swas (hook cross) and DRKB Kyffhäuser monument in a shield emblems alternating around the circumference. There is no troop color piping around the band and crown, but this is probably too early of a cap for that to be present.

It is decorated with an early pattern well detailed gild brass eagle insignia on the peak and and an open gold bullion embroidered wreath surrounding a tri-color cockade on the band. This still has the original red felt center, which has a swas superimposed in the center. Later versions of these caps would have the distinctive NS-RKB eagle, but they were not instituted until around 1938. The dual-buckled black leather chinstrap, designating the wearer to be an enlisted man, is attached to black lacquered buttons on either side. The chinstrap is in good shape, showing a bit of tearing near one button, and the patent leather finish has degraded a bit. The cap has a thick fiber material visor with a black gloss "patent leather" finish, and has black oilcloth faux leather trim. There is some checking and degradation to the finish, as we often see.

The inside of the cap is lined with lovely blue rayon twill, and still has the complete celluloid sweat shield "diamond" at the top, which still has parts of the original maker logo present. Looking in the light, we can make out of all of it, and it shows the DRKB insignia amidst the following text:

Deutſcher
Reichſkreigerbund
Kyffhäuſer
(ges. geſchützt)

(DRKB Emblem)

Carl Happe
LÜDENSCHEID

Carl Happe is a known maker of visor caps during the NSDAP period, and this one is pretty much text book. The brown leather sweatband is in very good supple condition, and is marked on the inside with Stirndruckfrei / Deutsches Reichspatent, indicating it is a "forehead pressure free" design protected by a German patent. The underside of the sweatband is marked with size 57.

A great example of the classic German WWII EM/NCO Visor cap, as issued to the DRKB during the mid 1930s. Ready to display!

The Kyffhäuserbund (Kyffhäuser League) is an umbrella organization for war veterans' and reservists' associations in Germany, founded in 1900 to unify the various veteran's groups in Germany. It owes its name to the Kyffhäuser Monument (Kyffhäuserdenkmal), a memorial built on the summit of the 473 m high Kyffhäuser mountain near Bad Frankenhausen, in the state of Thuringia in central Germany. It was not a political affiliated organization, and was open to all German war veterans.

During the Weimar Republic in 1921, this organization shed its federal structure and centralized itself under a common leadership. Following this step, it changed its name to German Warriors Association Kyffhäuser (Deutscher Reichskriegerbund Kyffhäuser e.V. or DRKB) When the National Socialist party came into party however, as with all national organizations, the group was absorbed under the NSDAP umbrella. In the name of Gleichschaltung (Co-Ordination or NSDAPfication), the Kyffhäuserbund was NSDAPified after the NSDAP takeover of power in 1933. Five years later in 1938, its name was altered to NS-Reichskriegerbund ‘Kyffhäuser’ e.V. (National Socialist Reich Warriors Association ‘Kyffhäuser‘ - NSRKB), after being merged with the Soldatenbund (Registered Soldier’s League). At this point it became the sole and exclusive organization representing the Veterans´ interests in the Third Reich. The organization would then be disbanded in March of 1943 and its members would be drafted into Volksturm service in 1945, as the fall of WWII Germany approached.

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.