Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a "salty" service used example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Infantry Officer's Schirmmütze (visor cap), and it really looks the business. The cap has a lovely "Crushed" or "saddle-form" shape that is highly desirable, accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It features lovely feldgrau (field gray) "doeskin" wool construction with a 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. It has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer.

It is decorated with a well detailed aluminum eagle insignia on the peak and and an open silvered zinc alloy wreath surrounding a plated metal tri-color cockade on the band. The eagle on the peak looks great, while the wreath and cockade, both made from zinc alloy, have lost their original silvering, and now display a dull gray oxidized patina. The red felt insert in the cockade is still vibrant.

The chin strap is attached with the standard pebbled buttons on either side of the cap, and is in great shape, showing just a bit of wear. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting very little wear, and is beige on the underside with a cross-hatched pattern. The top shows a bit of "melting", which can happen to the black gloss over time, especially if something is resting on it, like the chin strap.

The inside of the cap is lined with rayon "service cloth" type material, however it definitely looks to have been reworked a bit at some point. There is no celluloid sweat shield diamond, and it does not look like it ever had one. It also shows that originally had a tan leather or faux leather sweatband that tore off right at the stitching long ago. A piece of blue leather from another visor cap sweatband was glued into the front, which we presume is a post war alteration.

Overall exterior condition is very good, with no major mothing we can see and the colors a bit faded, giving it a great "been there" look. The interior definitely has seen better days but it still displays beautifully.

A great example of the classic hat worn by German Army Infantry Officers in WWII. 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.