Original German WWII Army Heer Vehicle & Supply Troops Officers Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap by EREL Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a wonderful lightly used example of a named German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Vehicle & Supply Troops Officer’s Schirmmütze (visor cap), made by the legendary EREL company. The cap has a lovely “Crushed” or “saddle-form” shape that is highly desirable, accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It features the typical 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 Blau (Blue) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) for Vehicle troops (Kraftfahrparktruppen) and the Supply troop (Nachschubtruppe). It has the correct silver bullion chin strap, indicating that it is for an officer.

It is decorated with a well detailed aluminum 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 silver wash all the insignia is well-retained and the red felt insert inside the cockade is present and 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 light wear along the edge, with a small crack in the center, and is beige on the underside. It also has a lovely pattern of crazing and checking on the black enamel finished top. The tan leather sweatband is in good supple condition and is unmarked on the inside, showing wear and staining from use.

The inside of the cap is lined with cream sheer fabric, most likely rayon. The top celluloid sweat shield is cracked wide open, with some pieces still retained. The original maker logo is completely worn away, however looking at it in the light we can still see a “ghost” of the maker marking, showing OFFIZIER / KLEIDERKASSE over the EREL trademark logo. There is no size marking we can see, but it seems to be about a 56 cm / 7 US.

Condition is very good, with just a few areas of light mothing, as well as a few holes and stains on the top of the crown. The colors are very well retained, and the piping is not worn or mothed like we often see.

A great example of a classic hat worn by German Army Officers in WWII made by the legendary EREL company. 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.