Original German WWII 17th Infantry Regiment Officers Schirmmütze Visor Cap by Peküro with Braunschweig Skull Traditions Badge Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a wonderful service used example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Infantry Officer’s Schirmmütze (visor cap), made by the very desirable Peküro company. This was a well-known maker of WWII visor caps, which continued to exist after the war. The cap has a lovely gently “Crushed” or “saddle-form” shape that is highly desirable, accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring, and it really looks the business.

It features lovely feldgrau (field gray) “whipcord” weave 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. It has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer.

It is decorated with a well detailed zinc eagle insignia on the peak and and an open cast aluminum oak leaf and acorn wreath surrounding a metal tri-color cockade on the band. Both show a bit of oxidation and age, but nothing major, and really add to the cap. The red felt insert inside the cockade is present and still vibrant. Between the insignia is a fantastic genuine Wehrmacht “Braunschweig Skull” Totenkopf traditions badge, indicating that the owner was a member of the 17th infantry regiment of the Army. These badges were used to show the lineage of certain units back to the days of the German empire, and in the 17th regiment only the first and fourth companies were allowed to use the Braunschweig style skulls on their headgear and insignia, in remembrance of 92th Braunschweig regimental history.

The officer’s bullion chin strap is attached with the standard pebbled buttons on either side of the cap. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting moderate wear along the edge and is beige on the underside. The top shows a lovely pattern of checking and crazing, which occurs as the black enamel finish degrades over time. Also, the stitching holding the visor to the cap has deteriorated quite a bit, so it should be handled with care.

The cap is lined with lovely cream rayon faux silk, and still retains the full celluloid diamond sweat shield in the crown. Under this it still bears the complete Peküro trademark logo, with the silver stamping almost completely retained:

Peküro
Stirndruckfrei
DEUTSCHES REICHSPATENT

“Stirndruckfrei” translates to “forehead pressure free”, indicating that it was designed for for comfort. The sweatband of this cap is beige oilcloth, which unfortunately has not held up nearly as well as the rest of the cap. It is now cracked and delicate, and has torn away from the lower rim around the front visor of the cap. It has a very nice black velvet spacer between the body of the cap and the sweatband. The size seems to be about a 57-58cm.

Overall condition is very good, with no mothing we can see and the colors well retained, showing just a bit of age toning and staining to the white piping. The metal insignia and chinstrap are in good shape, with a great look.

A great example of the classic hat worn by German Army Infantry Officers in WWII. 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.