Original German Pre-WWII Unissued HJ Bergmütze Mountain Cap with Edelweiß Badge – dated 1930 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent unissued German Pre-WWII HJ (jugend) Bergmütze (Field Cap), marked with Size 53 and fitted with a lovely German Gebirgsjäger (Mountain Trooper) Edelweiß badge. It even still has the original card stock inventory label, indicating manufacture in 1930 and the size of 53 cm.

The Leontopodium nivale plant, known in German as the Alpen-Edelweiß (Mountain Noble White), is the symbol of Alpine Purity for much of Central Europe. It is a scarce, short-lived flower found in remote mountain areas and has been used as a symbol for alpinism, for rugged beauty and purity associated with the Alps and Carpathians, and as a national symbol, especially of Romania, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Switzerland. It has been the symbol of Austrian and German Gebirgsjäger Mountain Troopers since their formation.

This fine cap is constructed of black worsted wool gabardine cloth, with fold-down panels with rounded scallops to the front and forward sides, covering the entire neck on the sides and rear when in use. When not in use, the panels are raised with their ends resting upon the visor, being joined together by a single pebbled aluminum button. The visor is reinforced with cardboard, and covered in matching gabardine cloth.

In the front of the cap is an enameled metal rhomboid diamond shaped HJ emblem, which consists of a black mobile was inside a white square diamond which is surrounded by alternating white and red quadrants. The emblem is in great shape, with just the usual age related oxidation, and is held on by the standard bent pins on the rear.

The interior of the cap is lined with navy blue rayon, with a 53 stamped on the top. There is no wear of any kind. The visor is still quite well-shaped, with a lovely curve, and no cracks, bends, or other issues.

This is a great chance to pick up a choice example of this early HJ Mountain Cap!

A H believed German youth to be the future of his 3rd Reich. The HJ (jugend or HJ) was formed officially in 1935, and with the exception of NSDAP ideology indoctrination was very similar to the Boy Scouts. Beginning at about the age of ten years, both boys (AH Jugend) and girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel) were enlisted in the Party-run organization. 

The M43 Feldmütze (Field Cap) is a variety of “Ski Cap” and was based on the Bergmütze (Mountain Hat) used by Austrian and German Gebirgsjäger (Mountain Troops) during WWI. Germany had adopted it in 1915, and after the war it spread throughout the military.

The skirt that surrounds the cap is made in the same wool as the cap, and can be folded down over the ears, though this was rarely done outside of the Mountain troops, which had a double-thickness skirt. The skirt has a small dip in the front quarter with a divide secured by one aluminum button which is covered by an embroidered cockade. The small section in the front quarter was built shorter to show the insignia, and cover the wearer’s chin or mouth, without disturbing breathing by covering the nose. There were also later M43 caps, such as those used by the DAK, that omitted the skirt entirely, as it had little use in the desert heat.