Original German WWII Army Heer Infantry EM/NCO Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap by J. Denecke with Jäger Regiment Markings – Dated 1935 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a very nice “salty” service used example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army 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) “doeskin” wool construction with a forest 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).

In this case however, the cap was used by Jäger (Hunter) units, during the early pre-war period were considered light infantry, and used the green caps with white piping. They were not organized into divisional size units until years after this cap was made. The cap is marked under the sweatband with the maker information and date of manufacture:

J. Denecke 1935
Uniformmützenfabrik
Burgdorf/Hann.

To the left of this is a faded regimental marking, which we believe reads 7. J.R. 101., and under the marking is a similar regimental marking: 8. (J) J.R. 101.. This definitely appears to attribute the cap to the 101st Jäger Regiment. Definitely some great research potential here!

It is decorated with a well detailed plated zinc alloy eagle insignia on the peak and and an open plated zinc alloy wreath surrounding a metal tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia look lovely, showing just a bit of loss of the aluminized plating with minor oxidation, and the red felt insert in the cockade is still vibrant. The chinstrap on this example has been removed, though the buttons are still present. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting light wear along the edge and is brown colored on the underside. The top of the visor has a lovely pattern of crazing and checking, showing that it saw extensive service and exposure to sunlight during its life, which causes the finish to degrade.

The cap is lined with light brown “service cloth” type material, and shows some soiling from use. The top plastic sweat shield is mostly intact, as is the stitching, however there are no markings or maker logo visible on the crown. The sweatband is made from brown genuine leather, and is in very good condition, still supple and without any major tears. There are no size markings, but it seems to be about a size 58cm. The stitching holding the sweatband and visor to the cap body has started to deteriorate, particularly on the right side.

The cap definitely looks the business, and has a great salty look that cannot be duplicate. There is some moth damage on the rear underside of the crown, mostly on the cap band, which is protected from light.

A very nice service used example of the classic hat worn by German Army Infantry NCOs in WWII with some great Jäger regiment markings. 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, 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.