Original German WWII Luftwaffe Flight Branch EM/NCO Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap by Otto Schlientz Original Items

Original Item: Only One available. This is a lovely service used Flight Branch Luftwaffe EM & NCO Visor Cap by maker Otto Schlientz of Straubing. A wonderful honest example with a fantastic swept back shape. It has the great “crushed” saddle form appearance which we all love. This excellent wartime EM & NCO Schirmmütze Visor Cap was a high quality manufactured visor. It is fabricated in Luftwaffe fliegerblau (flyer’s blue) grey blue “doeskin” weave wool, with wide black wool cap band, plus three rows of goldgelb (Gold-Yellow) color piping for the flight branch (Waffenfarbe) around the circumference. This included Aviator troops such as pilots and ground personnel as well as Fallschirmjäger (parachute troops).

The peak visor cap retains an excellent, high quality, aluminum pin Luftwaffe eagle with swas as well as centrally mounted “winged” aluminum oak leaves with cockade, with the paint partially worn away. Chinstrap and buttons are still present and in very good condition, with a lovely pattern of checking and crazing on the chinstrap. The visor is a classic vulcanfibre construction example, gloss pattern with the usual age crazing and degrading on the top. The underside is a nice green color, and the original edge trim is still partly present, showing overall wear on the remaining portions.

The interior of the cap is lined with very nice gold colored rayon fabric, showing very little in the way of staining or wear. The celluloid diamond sweat shield is fully intact, with complete stitching, and still has the maker name clearly listed in silver paint:

OTTO • SCHLIENTZ • UNIFORMMÜTZEN
• STRAUBING •

The sweatband is pressed paper faux leather, and definitely shows age and wear, with several repaired tears and some along the forehead area completely missing. Overall condition is very nice, with some small holes and tears consistent with use in service. Size is not marked but seems to be about a 57 / US 7 1/8.

This is a great totally honest service used Luftwaffe NCO peaked visor cap offered with a beautiful shape and look. 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.