Original German WWII Army Heer Panzer EM/NCO Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap – Size 55 ½ Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a very good example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Panzer EM/NCO Schirmmütze (visor cap). It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) “whipcord” weave wool construction with a bottle green “badge cloth” band and a traditional high forward crown. It still has the stiffener ring around the crown to maintain the shape, and shows light wear overall. The cap has matching rose-pink (rosa) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band. This is the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) for the Panzertruppen (Armored Forces), as well as Kraftfahrkampftruppe – Kraftfahrtruppen (Motor Vehicle Combat Troops).

It is decorated with a well detailed silvered aluminum eagle insignia on the peak and an open silvered aluminum wreath surrounding a metal tri-color cockade on the band. All insignia are still bright, with very little wear or oxidation, and the red felt insert inside the cockade is present and vibrant. The dual-buckled black leather chinstrap, designating the wearer to be an enlisted man, is attached to black lacquered buttons on either side. It shows some checking on the gloss finish, as expected for patent leather of this age. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting some light wear along the edge and is brown on the underside with cross hatching. There is some age crazing present on the visor, but it still looks great.

The inside of the cap is lined with brown / orange ‘service cloth’ type fabric, which is still in very good condition, showing very little in the way of staining or wear. The top plastic sweat shield diamond is completely missing, with much of the stitching still present, and it is marked with a size 55½ where the shield used to be. The brown leather sweatband is present, and actually in very good condition, with moderate wear and no major tearing. The leather is soft and really in fantastic condition for a cap of this age.

Overall condition is very good, with the exterior colors well retained, and a great lightly worn look. There is definitely some scattered moth damage on the top of the crown, and also around the bottom of the cap under the chinstrap, which kept that area dark and more susceptible to insect damage.

A very nice example of a classic visor cap worn by German Army Panzer Tanker NCOs 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.