Original German WWII Army Heer Infantry Officers Schirmmütze Visor Cap by Deutsch Wertarbeit – size 56 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a wonderful lightly used example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Infantry Officer’s Schirmmütze (visor cap), and it really looks the business. It still has the original crown stiffener installed, so the sides have not sunken down over the years. It features lovel 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 plated eagle insignia on the peak and and an open cast aluminum oak leaf and acorn wreath surrounding an metal tri-color cockade on the band. The plating on the eagle has faded a bit to a gray color, with just a bit of light oxidation, and the cockade and wreath are still fully bright and shiny. The red felt insert inside the cockade is present and still vibrant. The 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 minimal wear along the edge and is beige on the underside. The top shows very little checking or crazing in the finish.

The inside of the cap is lined with black sheer fabric, most likely rayon, that shows very little staining or wear. The top plastic shield is fully present, with no cracks and the stitching fully intact. The maker logo is still partly present, showing an eagle logo over a phrase:

(Eagle Logo)
DEUTSCHE
WERTARBEIT

This translates to “German Workmanship”, which we assume is the name of the company, but could also be a slogan. There is a paper size tag in the slot of the sweat shield marked 56. The sweatband of this cap is made from brown finished pressed paper, and unfortunately has become quite brittle over the years. It has a tear through on the front right forehead area, and other areas have small tears as well.

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

A great example of a 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.