Original German WWII Fire Protection Police EM/NCO Schirmmütze Visor Cap by Peküro – Size 56 ½ Original Items

Original Item: Only One available. This is an excellent condition Feuerschutzpolizei, (Fire Protection Police) NCO/EM 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 very nice condition oilcloth crown lining, which is unfortunately cracking and starting to have the lacquer layer fall away. In spite of this, it still has a complete celluloid diamond sweat shield on the top. Some of the original silver paint has worn or flaked away, but the markings can still be read easily:

Wasserdicht

Stirndruckfrei
D.R.P.
56 ½

“Wasserdicht” indicates the cap is waterproof, while “Stirndruckfrei” translates to “forehead pressure free”, indicating that it was designed for for comfort. The sweatband of this cap is beige oilcloth, which has held up a bit better than the crown lining, but still shows lacquer loss. This is a high quality German made cap, which is most likely intended more for an NCO than an enlisted man. It is fabricated from very dark navy blue worsted wool cloth, with wide black velvet cap band, and features three rows of what look to be orange piping. This is not a police truppenfarbe we are familiar with, as usually these have carmine red (karminrot) piping, for the Fire Branch of the protection police, the Feuerschutzpolizei. We believe that the color of the piping has faded, as often at that time unstable aniline dyes were used, which were fine for 5-10 years, but after that begin to fade. It still has the top stiffener, which helps it retain the round shape, with gently sloping sides.

Cap is decorated with the correct insignia, including the Ordnungpolizei wreathed eagle front crown, with the classic metal Tri-color cockade below, still bearing its red felt insert. Both are in great shape, with the cockade having a love tarnished patina, and the eagle still has both retaining clips, so it is attached firmly. The eagle has aged a bit, and now looks almost golden in color, though it is possible that for some reason a gold civic eagle was attached during the cap’s service life.

The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting wear along the edge and is brown on the underside. The top shows a lovely pattern of find crazing and checking due to age, as well as some chipping. One end of the visor has also pulled out of the seam, and is now loose.

A very interesting example of the very colorful Fire Police visor cap with some great research potential, ready to add to your collection!

More on the Fire Protection Police:

On June 17TH 1936, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was appointed to the newly created position of Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern (Chief of the German Police in the National Ministry of the Interior), effectively giving him full control of all police agencies within Germany including the Feuerschutzpolizei, (Fire Protection Police). As a result of this appointment and the restructuring of all the separate German state police into a single national police force new regulations were instituted on June 25TH 1936 to bring about uniformity in dress for all police through-out the country. The Police were divided into eight assorted branches of service with each branch being assigned a specific identifying, Truppenfarbe, (branch of service color), with the Feuerschutzpolizei being allocated carmine truppenfarbe. The Feuerschutzpolizei were further distinguished from the other police branches of service with blue uniforms and headgear instead of the typical police green uniforms.