Original German WWII Army Heer Infantry Officers Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap by Top Maker Wilhelm Welhausen 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 Wilhelm Welhausen of Hannover and Kassel. This company was a “Top Five” maker during the WWII period, up there with EREL and Peküro, and caps made by them were desirable then as they are now. This cap really looks the business, with a lovely “Crushed” or “saddle-form” shape that is highly desirable, accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring.

It features lovely feldgrau (field gray) “doeskin” wool construction with a dark bottle-green (flaschengrün) “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.

The cap is decorated with a well detailed stamped and silvered eagle insignia on the peak and and an early pattern hand embroidered aluminum bullion oak leaf and acorn wreath surrounding a metal tri-color cockade on the band. The peak eagle has has the silver wash tarnish to a lovely patina, with some wear through on the edges. The wreath is in great shape, with the aluminum still bright, however the brass of the cockade has lost much of the silver plating, and now displays a lovely oxidized patina. The red felt insert inside the cockade is present, but faded a bit towards orange.

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 moderate wear along the edge and is checkered gray on the underside. The top shows a lovely pattern of very fine checking and crazing, which occurs as the black enamel finish degrades over time.

The inside of the cap is lined with lovely antique white rayon faux silk, which shows staining and overall wear. The original celluloid diamond sweat shield is fully intact, with all stitching present. It is embossed with a WW logo as well as the maker name and address: Wilhelm Welhausen / Hannover – Kassel. This was originally highlighted with bronze paint, however that has mostly worn away now. The sweatband is gray finished leather, matching the underside of the visor, and is still supple, though it does show wear from service. It is embossed with Wilhelm Welhausen / HANNOVER on the left side. There is no size marked, but it seems to be about a 56cm / 7 US.

The cap is in overall very good service used condition, showing overall wear and tear from use as well as age. There is some loss of the “nap” of the fabric, as well as overall fading of the colors.  There is also some scattered mothing on the crown of the cap, as well as wear and staining on the very bottom.

A great example of the classic hat worn by German Army Infantry Officers in WWII, made by a very desirable maker! 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.