Original German WWII Kriegsmarine Navy Senior NCO’s Schirmmütze Visor Cap 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.

The Kriegsmarine visor cap also differed from their counterparts in the army and Luftwaffe in that they did not utilize the bullion chinstraps to denote rank, as they proved impractical for actual usage and the leather chinstraps were worn instead. As a result, there was no way to determine Officers from Senior NCOs until regulations of May 13th, 1936 introduced new identifying visor trim for officers ranks to distinguish them from the NCO’s. The new visor trim came in three different patterns with one pattern for Company Grade Officers, one for Field Grade Officers and the third for Flag Officers.

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. It does not have a crown stiffener installed, and instead has padding around the entire cap, giving it a characteristic look. The size seems to be about a 58cm.

It is decorated with a well detailed gilt aluminum eagle insignia on the peak and and an open aluminum wreath surrounding an attached tri-color cockade on the band. The leather chin strap is attached with naval “fouled anchor” plastic buttons on either side of the cap. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting minimal wear along the edge and is brown on the underside. It is unadorned on the top of the visor, correct for an NCO.

The leather sweatband is in very good condition, showing wear from service, but no tears or major damage. It is firmly attached to the visor with all stitching looking to be intact. The interior is also lined with black fabric, which does have some staining. The celluloid diamond sweat shield at the top is completely missing, along with most of the stitching for it, and the maker markings are unfortunately worn away.

Overall the condition is very good, showing light overall light use and wear. We do not see any major damage to the exterior wool shell from moths, definitely a rarity.

A great example of a rare German WWII Kriegmarine 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.