Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a very good example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Named EM / NCO Schirmmütze (visor cap). It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) wool gabardine construction with a forest green 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 eagle insignia on the peak and an open silvered aluminum wreath surrounding a tri-color cockade on the band. There is no black leather EM/NCO chin strap, but it looks like this cap was not made with one in the first place. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting wear along the edge and is brown on the underside. The visor is a bit loose on one side of it because the stitching is missing. The brown leather sweatband is in very good lightly worn supple condition and is unmarked.

This cap is quite special and has a lot of research opportunities because it has multiple markings on it. On the inside of the leather sweatband, there is an oval stamp from the manufacturer: Otto Ditmann. Below the name, there stands “Mützen” (Hats), and the place where this cap is made, Dresden.

Next to the stamp from the manufacturer, there is a rare sewn in tag with a diamond bond with the name of the officer. His name was Eduard Mohr. Below his name you can find the marking of what appears to be RAMR 3ug J.R. 103. It is known that the German used the letter J for an I, which says that this officer was part of the 103th Grenadier Regiment. This regiment was part of the 47th Infantry Division. It also bears the marking STAB(Staff) JR52 1.

The 47th Infantry Division was formed on 1 February 1944 from the 156th Reserve Division near Calais in German-occupied France. As a result, the 47th Infantry Division was tasked with coastal defense against a possible naval invasion by the Western Allies. When the invasion became a reality in the form of Operation Overlord, beginning with the D-day landings on June 6, 1944, the 47th Infantry Division, led by Otto Elfeldt, was assigned to the 5th Panzer Army. The German units, unable to hold their ground against the Allied forces, were pushed past Paris and into Belgium, towards Mons. In September 1944, Allied forces trapped the unit in a kesselschlacht and destroyed it. The 47th Infantry Division was renamed the 47th Volksgrenadier Division in 1944.

In September 1944, the division was formed from the remnants of the 47th Infantry Division in Denmark, under the command of Lieutenant General Max Bork. It fought on the Western Front until March 1945, when it was destroyed and surrendered to the Americans in Bavaria.

The inside of the cap is lined with orange lightweight "service cloth" style fabric. The top plastic sweat shield is completely intact, with a part of the sweatband that lost the stitches and is loose. It is stamped with size 55 underneath. The cap shows only light wear overall, and does not look to have seen extensive use.

A great example of the classic hat worn by a named 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.