Original German WWII Luftwaffe Officer Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap with Bullion Insignia by VIRO Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely Luftwaffe Officer’s Schirmmütze Visor Cap, with great early pattern bullion embroidered insignia. It shows signs of light use in service, but no abuse, giving it a fantastic aged look. A wonderful honest example with a fantastic swept back shape. It has had the crown stiffener removed, giving it that great “crushed” saddle form appearance which we all love.

This Officer’s Schirmmütze Visor Cap is a very high quality manufactured example. Fabricated in Luftwaffe blue gray Fliegerblau (Flier’s Blue) wool “whipcord weave” gabardine, with wide black ribbed wool cap band, plus three rows of fine silver bullion piping around the circumference. It is fronted by a heavy bullion embroidered Luftwaffe insignia pair that includes a silver bullion Luftwaffe eagle on a gray wool backing above a high relief silver bullion oak leaf wreath with stylized wings and a woven tri color cockade. The insignia are in very good condition, with the bullion well retained. There is some oxidation, particularly on the eagle, and the fabric backing of both shows some color fading and possible mothing.

The visor on this cap is the standard “vulcanfibre” with what was originally a gloss top, which now shows a lovely intricate pattern of checking and crazing due to age. It also still has the black patent faux leather stitched around the edge retained almost completely, with just a few areas of wear through the finish. Above this is the correct bullion officer’s chin strap, retained by pebbled buttons.

The interior is lined with fine light gray blue colored rayon, which does show staining, and the original diamond shaped celluloid sweat shield is cokmpletely missing, with some of the stitching remaining. However, it still has the original maker logo on the top, indicating manufacture by VIRO, a known maker of high end caps during WWII. The inside of the cap has a very nice tan pressed paper faux leather sweatband, which is unfortunately now quite stiff due to age. It shows some tearing in areas, with a tear almost all the way through on the right side. There is overall staining from service on the inside as well, and the support for the front crown has torn through the sweatband. The size seems to be about a 58-59cm or U.S. 7 1/4 – 7 5/8.

Overall condition is very good, showing signs of moderate use and subsequent long storage. There is some fraying and degradation of the bullion piping, as well as oxidation to the embroidered insignia. There is a hole on the rear crown, which looks to be more from wear than from mothing.

A truly quality Luftwaffe officer in lovely condition with silver bullion embroidered insignia. 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.