Original Item: Only One Available. During the Pre-WWII years in Germany, virtually all aspects of the government fell under control of the NSDAP, and the Customs service was no exception. Here we have a very nice example of a German WWII Era Customs Offficial's Schirmmütze (Peaked Cap). This was used by a subordinate official, who wore visor caps similar to EM/NCO members of the Heer Army.
The basic construction is very similar to the Heer Officer Visor cap. It features the typical field gray worsted "doeskin" wool construction with a Waldgrün (Forest Green) band and a traditional high forward crown. It has had the crown stiffener removed, giving it the lovely saddle form "crushed" shape that we all over. The cap also has matching forest green piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, common to all versions of the customs cap. It has a pressed paper or fiber visor, which is black gloss on the top, and has a pressed paper faux leather sweatband.
It is decorated with a well detailed silvered aluminum eagle insignia on the front crown, which faces to the left, with upswept wings, unique to the Customs Service. It is perched on a wreathed "mobile" Swas (swas), as with most Reichsadler designs. The cap band has a silver washed alloy acanthus leaf wreath, surrounding an alloy tri-color cockade with a vibrant red felt insert in the center. It has a black patent leather double buckle chin strap, similar to an armed forces EM/NCO, and this shows a lovely pattern of cracking and checking in the finish.
The interior is lined with orange "service cloth" type fabric, with the top lining possibly being rayon. There is no sweat shield, and no indication that the cap was constructed with one. There are no markings except for a size of 55 1/2 stamped near the rear. The tan pressed paper faux leather sweatband is in good condition, now stiff and showing some tears from use and age. The cap shows only light wear, and just a bit of minor mothing in places. It does not look to have seen extensive use when in service.
A very nice example of a classic hat worn by the German Customs Service during the WWII Era.
More on the German Customs Service:
The German Customs Service can be traced back to 1834 when a Customs Union was formed to allow the separate German States to trade amongst themselves without trade and tariff taxes, while still imposing import trade taxes on other European nations. With the unification of the German States into a single nation in 1871 the Customs Service became a national paramilitary organization, under control of the Reichsfinanzministerium, (National Finance Ministry), in Berlin. The national Customs Service was still responsible for imposing and collecting import trade taxes but was also tasked with border defense duties.
In 1936 the Customs Service was reorganized and given further policing responsibilities including the apprehension of individuals attempting to escape from the NSDAP’s yoke. The German Customs service was divided into two separate branches with one branch consisting of the Landzollbeamte (Land Customs Officials), which was subdivided into the Zollgrenzschutz (Land Customs Border Guards), and the Wasserzollbeamte (Water Customs Officials), and the second branch consisting of the remaining Zollbeamte (Customs Officials).
On June 17TH 1936, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was appointed to the newly created position of Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern (Chief of the German Police in the National Ministry of the Interior), effectively giving him full control of all police agencies within Germany including the Customs service. As a result of this appointment new regulations were instituted, in July 1936, to bring about uniformity in dress and included new insignia for the Customs personnel.
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.
