Original German WWII Heer Artillery Officers Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap by EREL (Double Marked) Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a wonderful lightly used example of a named German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army Artillery Officer’s Schirmmütze (visor cap), made by the legendary EREL company. It is marked on both the inside of the crown and the sweatband, making it a VERY desirable DOUBLE MARKED example! 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 flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) “badge cloth” band and a traditional high forward crown. The also has matching Hochrot (Deep Red) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Artillery, as well as General Level Officers. 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 some wear along the edge, and is brown on the underside. It also has a lovely pattern of light crazing and checking on the black enamel finished top, with some cracking.

The inside of the cap is lined with cream sheer fabric, most likely rayon, which shows staining from use. The top celluloid sweat shield diamond is mostly intact with complete stitching, which pulled through near the very top. Though faint, the inside of the crown still bears the complete EREL trademark logo, which be read in the light:

OFFIZIER
KLEIDERKASSE
BERLIN
EREL
SonderKlasse
Extra

The cap also has an embossed stamp over the left ear on the sweatband: EREL PATENT / STIRNSCHUTZ, which refers to the “Forehead Protection” of the sweatband design. This means that the sweatband was never replaced, making this a “double marked” example. There is no size marking we can see, but it seems to be about a 57 cm / 7 1/8 US. The leather sweatband is in good condition, still soft, but it does show staining and tears from use. The piping around the edge is worn, and there is also some stitching missing on the sweatband.

Overall condition is very good, with the exterior looking great and still retaining the colors very well. The piping has faded just a bit, common due to the instability of red dyes of the period, but the original color is still well retained under the crown. There is some light mothing to the piping and cap band, but nothing major.

A great example of a classic hat worn by German Army Officers in WWII, double marked by the legendary EREL company. This is an example that definitely saw a good amount of wear during the war. 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.