Original Item: Only One Available. This is a wonderful 1936 Officers pattern Tschako with police green wool body and black trim. Has very fine quality police officer eagle with bullion wire cockade with black leather chinstrap. A great Polizei helmet (shako) as used by the metropolitan police, unlike some of the more common ones found trimmed in brown for rural police, this one is with black trim for the municipal police.

Interior is excellent, leather is supple and shows only light age, and is marked with size 55 ½. Maker marked on inner dome top with maker decal (partly torn off):

C. POSE WEHRAUSRÜSTUNGEN
BERLIN 0 34 - BOXHAGENER 16

Vents are in perfect condition with working slide closure on both sides. Overall it is offered in excellent condition from one of Germany's best manufacturers of the time. Comes ready to display!

A shako is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with some kind of ornamental plate or badge on the front, metallic or otherwise, and often has a feather, plume (see hackle), or pom pom attached at the top.

The word shako originated from the Hungarian name csákó for the peak, which Hungarian border soldiers (Grenz-Infanterie) added around 1790 to their previously visorless stovepipe-style hats. Originally these hats were part of the clothing commonly worn by shepherds, before being added to the uniform of the Hungarian hussar in the early 18th century. Other spellings include chako, czako, sjako, schako, schakot and tschako.

In 1914, the shako was still being worn in France (by chasseurs à cheval, infantry of the Republican Guard, chasseurs d'Afrique and hussars); in Imperial Germany (Jägers, Landwehr and marines); in Austro-Hungary (full dress of non-Muslim line infantry and hussars in both full and field dress); in Russia (full dress of generals, staff officers, and infantry, engineers and artillery of the Imperial Guard). In Belgium the shako was the official field dress for line infantry, chasseurs à pied, engineers, transport/ambulance, administration, fortress artillery, and mounted chasseurs, although after the outbreak of war it was usually discarded in favour of the "undress" cap. In Denmark it remained part of the full dress of Guard Hussars; in Mexico (full dress of federal troops of all branches); in Portugal (military cadets); in Romania (full dress of artillery); in Italy (horse artillery and military academies); and in Spain (line infantry, cazadores, engineers, and artillery). The Highland Light Infantry and Scottish Rifles of the British Army retained small shakos for full dress and the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica states that there were plans to reintroduce the shako as parade dress for all English, Irish and Welsh line infantry regiments - a project that was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. The Swiss and Dutch armies wore shakos, even for field wear, until after 1916. The Japanese Army had worn the shako as a parade headdress until 1905, although a form of high-sided kepi had been the normal wear.

During this final period of elaborate and colourful traditional uniforms, the shako varied widely from army to army in height, colour, trim and profile. Amongst the most distinctive of these were the high Napoleonic shako (kiver) worn by the Russian Imperial Guard and the low streamlined model (ros) of the Spanish Army. The Swiss version had black-leather peaks at both front and rear - a feature that also appeared in the shako-like headdress that was worn by British postmen between 1896 and 1910, and New Zealand policemen of the same period.

Most German police forces adopted a version of the Jäger shako, after World War I, which replaced the spiked leather helmet (Pickelhaube) that had become identified with the previous Imperial regime. This new headdress survived several political changes and was worn by the civilian police forces of the Weimar Republic, WWII Germany, East Germany, and West Germany. It finally disappeared in the 1970s, when the various police forces of West Germany adopted a standardised green and light fawn uniform that included the high-fronted peaked cap that is still worn.