Original German WWII Kriegsmarine Navy White Summer Weight Senior NCO's Schirmmütze Visor Cap

Item DescriptionOriginal Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice example of a rare Senior NCO's Schirmmütze Visor Cap from the German WWII Navy, known as the Kriegsmarine. Unlike the other branches of the German armed forces, the enlisted men of the Kriegsmarine below senior NCO level did not wear visor caps, so they are quite a bit more scarce, as many fewer were made.This is a very nice example of an early war Kriegsmarine Senior NCO's Summer Weight Visor cap, with a lightweight white crown, as worn in warmer areas along with the white uniform. This design of cap does not have any type of removable crown, and there is no stiffener inside the crown, giving it a very flat look, almost like a Tellermütze. There is a reinforced area at the front for the insignia, which has a gold washed aluminumWehrmachtadlerEagle Insignia installed at the top over an oak leaf wreath hand-embroidered with gold bullion threads. The tri-color cockade is embroidered as well using silver bullion, and has the correct red felt insert. There are no celeon threads used to keep the bullion in place, and there has been just a bit of oxidation to the bullion. The badge is attached to the classic black coarsely woven ribbed band.The leather chinstrap is in fantastic condition with few flaws, held in place with black finished buttons, and the buckles are great with little paint loss. The hard visor has a crazed and cracked black leather-look upper, exhibiting minimal wear along the edge and is dark green on the underside. The edge trim is still fully intact, showing only light wear. The visor is unadorned on the top of the visor, correct for an NCO.As a summer weight cap, there is no lining under the crown, and there are no markings on the interior that we can see. The sweatband is made from brown finished oil cloth faux leather with a lightly padded underside, which shows wear but no tearing, and is still supple. Overall the condition is very good, showing some great staining and age toning from use and wear. There is no major damage we can see, making this a really great specimen. The cap measures out to about a 57-58cm, or 7 1/8-7 1/4 US.A great example of a rare German WWII Kriegmarine Senior NCO's Visor Summer cap, 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.Shipping RestrictionsThis product is available for international shipping.Shipping not available to: Australia, France, or GermanyPayment OptionsNot eligible for payment with Paypal or AmazonLegal InformationDue to legal restrictions this item cannot be shipped to Australia, France or Germany. This is not a comprehensive list and other countries may be added in the future.