Original German WWII Kriegsmarine Navy Blue Senior NCO’s Visor Cap – Schirmmütze Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice example of a rare Senior NCO’s Schirmmütze Visor Cap from the German WWII Navy, known as the Kriegsmarine. Unlike the other branches of the German armed forces, the enlisted men of the Kriegsmarine below senior NCO level did not wear visor caps, so they are quite a bit more scarce, as many fewer were made.

This is a very nice example of a later war Kriegsmarine Senior NCO’s Visor cap, in the standard very dark navy blue, which looks almost black. This design of cap has a removable crown, so that different colors could be attached, such as white, however this cap only comes with the navy blue crown. It still has the crown stiffener installed, but it is a bit loose inside the crown.

The Reichsadler National Eagle Insignia as well as the front cap badge wreath and tri-color cockade are all hand-embroidered with gold and silver bullion, with yellow celeon threads holding in the center of most of the gold ornamentation. The tri-color cockade is embroidered as well, and has the correct red felt insert. By the early WWII period typically the cockade would at least be a cast insignia, but not on this example. The badge is attached to the classic black coarsely woven ribbed band. A small bit of the eagle and cockade is beginning to fray but nothing serious.

The leather chinstrap is in fantastic condition with few flaws, and the buckles are great with little paint loss. The hardened leather visor has a crazed black leather-look upper, exhibiting minimal wear along the edge and is black on the underside. It is unadorned on the top of the visor, correct for an NCO.

The gray oilcloth sweatband is extremely worn and is coming off at multiple points, but is still overall attached to the cap. There is a small remnant of newspaper under the sweatband which was often done by soldiers. The visor is roughly size 7⅛. 

Overall the condition is very good, showing light overall light use and wear. There is some basic moth tracking across the exterior wool but thanks to the darker color, it’s hardly noticeable.

A great example of a rare German WWII Kriegmarine Senior NCO’s Visor cap, 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.