Original German WWII Heer Panzer Armored Corps 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 Panzer Armored Corps Officer’s Schirmmütze (visor cap), made by Robert Lubstein under their legendary EREL brand. 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) “doe skin” weave wool construction, very popular with officers, with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) “badge cloth” band and a traditional high forward crown. The also 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).

There is no chinstrap installed, but there are definitely markings indicating that it did have one. It was common for officers in the field to remove the silver bullion chinstrap, which would identify them to enemies as an officer, making them a very attractive target. The very high quality of the cap indicates that it is definitely for an officer. EREL only used the light blue linings on their high grade caps, which were only available to officers.

It is decorated with a well detailed zinc alloy eagle insignia on the peak and and an open silvered cast zinc oak leaf and acorn wreath surrounding an metal tri-color cockade on the band. The aluminized silver wash on the eagle an cockade is still partly present, while it is almost completely gone on the oak leaf wreath. The cockade features a red painted mesh insert, and is attached directly to the wreath. The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting only light wear along the edge, and is beige on the underside. It also has a lovely pattern of light crazing and checking on the black enamel finished top. The tan leather sweatband is still in very good condition, supple with no tears, showing moderate wear. There is no size marked but it is about a 59cm, relatively large for these caps and definitely hard to find!

The cap is lined with lovely light aqua rayon faux silk, which is in great shape with only light staining. It still retains the full celluloid diamond sweat shield in the crown with complete stitching, though unfortunately the maker information has completely worn away. 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.

Overall condition is really very good, with the chinstrap and plating loss on the insignia the only real discrepancies. There are just a few tiny moth nips and stains to the exterior, which shows only light wear. We very rarely see visor caps in this great condition, especially from the Panzer corps!

A great example of a classic hat worn by German Panzer 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.