Original German WWII Heer Panzer Armored Corps Officers Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap by EREL – size 57 1/2 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 with a forest 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). 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 silvered cast zinc oak leaf and acorn wreath surrounding an metal tri-color cockade on the band. The red felt insert inside the cockade is present and vibrant, however the wreath and cockade metal has lost some of the silvering. 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 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 a size 57 1/2 tag at the rear.

The inside of the cap is lined with cream rayon faux silk fabric, which is in great shape with only light staining. The top celluloid sweat shield diamond is mostly intact, with just some edge tearing at the top and along the left side. Under this it still bears the complete EREL trademark logo, with the silver stamping almost completely retained:

EREL
BERLIN
Sonder Klasse
Standard

Overall condition is really very good, with the plating on the oak leaf and cockade being the only real discrepancy. 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.