Original German WWII 1938 Dated Heer 97th Artillery Regiment EM/NCO Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap by Wilhelm Wethekam – Size 56 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a lovely example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Artillery EM/NCO Schirmmütze (visor cap), with a lovely “Crushed” shape. This “saddle-form” shape is highly desirable, and accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) “whipcord” weave wool construction with a dark bottle-green (flaschengrün) “badge cloth” band and a traditional high forward crown. The also has matching Hochrot (Deep Red) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Artillery, as well as General Level Officers. As this is an EM/NCO cap, this is definitely for an Artillery, Assault Gun, or Heavy Flak soldier.

It is decorated with a well detailed silvered zinc eagle insignia on the peak and and an open aluminum oak leaf and acorn wreath surrounding an metal tri-color cockade on the band. The peak eagle has lost a lot of the silvering, now showing an oxidized zinc patina, while the wreath and cockade are still mostly bright. The red felt insert inside the cockade is present and vibrant. The dual-buckled black leather chinstrap, designating the wearer to be an enlisted man, is attached to black lacquered buttons on either side. It shows some degradation to the finish, which can happen as the patent leather finish “melts” over time. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting wear along the edge and is checkered brown on the underside. It has a lovely pattern of light crazing on the top surface.

The cap is lined with orange brown “service cloth” type fabric, which is in very good condition, showing light staining from use. The celluloid diamond sweat shield is still almost fully intact, as is the stitching holding it in place, and it is marked with size 56 under the shield. The natural leather sweatband is still fully intact, and has matured to a lovely chestnut brown color. It is a bit stiff, however we were still able to lift it up to find a fully intact maker marking on the underside:

Uniformmützenfabrik
WIlhelm Wethekam
Dresden
1938

Additionally, it is marked in a box with regimental marking 3. / A. R. 97, for the 3rd Company, 97th Artillery Regiment. Definitely some great markings as well as a wonderful research opportunity. Overall condition is just lovely, with a fantastic “broken in” look. There is just a bit of fading to the colors, but nothing out of line with wear from service and storage. We don’t see any real moth nips or other damage from misuse.

A great broken in example of the classic hat worn by German Artillery NCOs in WWII, marked to the 97th Artillery! 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.