Kriegsmarine Admirals Visor Cap

**KMcollector** · 02-04-2020, 11:36 PM

This is a copy of a thread I posted on the home of Cloth headgear. The reason i'm posting it here is for more people to see it. Hello gentlemen, you are witnessing one of the most important Kriegsmarine posts to be on WarRelics. Here I have a excellent WW2 Kriegsmarine Admirals visor cap that I bough for a bargain not long ago. My unofficial statement on it is: The visor is very complicated indeed. But before we dive into this I would like to state that any comments saying this is 100% Fake will be ignored. Everything is original on the cap. This cap came from the supreme collection of a well known collector. The cap has many scenarios it could have gone through. Lets start out with the most obvious situation. The original owner of the cap had served in the imperial German navy (Hence the visor being in a imperial form). He then proceeded to carry out his naval career in the Reichsmarine (Hence the Reichsmaine styled wreath). And finally ending his career in the Kriegsmarine as a admiral. This pathway would seem the most logical but may not be the case. See,as shown in the pictures the cap liner is stamped Aug. Geiger Kiel. Deeper research reveals the company not only was in business during Pre-WW2/ During war time, but also Pre-WW1/ War time. They are most known for their Tellermutze's. So this brings up the question of if the liner is a replacement by the company? Is the cap a privet purchase from the company? Is this just a standard Reichsmarine cap? Or, is this truly a WW1 Aug. Geiger produced cap ? I would agree with that its a repair made by the company including the liner, a new chinstrap, and also the addition of gold oak leaves and the national eagle. But even that scenario has possible flaws. In the cap I can see a clear statement. Just like many high ranking men in the Third Reich. They wanted to give a background of their career. EVEN HITLER. What I see represented is; Service in the First World War, service in the Reichsmarine, and service in the Kriegsmarine. If you are still here i'm pleased you took time out of your day to read this. I'd really like to hear any information or opinions any of you have to provide. I ask you nicely to keep this thread positive. Best regards

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 02-04-2020 11:36 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**MAP** · 02-05-2020, 03:26 AM

Interesting. Certainly an odd ball.

Looks great but know not anything about these I'll let others with experience add any valuable comments.

**KMcollector** · 02-05-2020, 01:35 PM

Thanks for the comment

! I'm not very pleased that there isn't others tuning into this thread

**KMcollector** · 02-05-2020, 01:38 PM

This is the closest I have came. But this shows that the Admirals did indeed have different styled visor caps.

**MAP** · 02-05-2020, 03:26 PM

by KMcollector

Thanks for the comment

! I'm not very pleased that there isn't others tuning into this thread

The lack of comments is almost certainly partially due to members not knowing. And therefore no posting comments that will not help you.

**Larry C** · 02-05-2020, 04:24 PM

Our Cap Moderator Mr. Stonemint could give some insight on your cap.
Perhaps send him a PM including the link to your thread.

Im not a cap collector but I do know leather straps and hangers for edged weapons and the cap chin leather is recent. It does not match the age and also lacks the conditon of the cap.

Regards Larry

**stonemint** · 02-05-2020, 05:14 PM

I asked an Imperial Navy collector to chime in on this cap, but he has not as of yet.

I do not collect Imperial Navy, but the body appears to be an original Imperial Navy Officer.

The Admiral visor was added later, and so was the chinstrap.
Unless there is some sort of provenance (to include a photo of this exact cap in wear), it will always be suspect.

You might want to post it on the WAF in their Imperial section to get more comments.

**KMcollector** · 02-06-2020, 12:04 AM

by stonemint

I asked an Imperial Navy collector to chime in on this cap, but he has not as of yet.

I do not collect Imperial Navy, but the body appears to be an original Imperial Navy Officer.

The Admiral visor was added later, and so was the chinstrap.
Unless there is some sort of provenance (to include a photo of this exact cap in wear), it will always be suspect.

You might want to post it on the WAF in their Imperial section to get more comments.

Thanks for the comment and advice

And there are a lot of Kriegsmarine admirals without photos of them with their black visor on and a lot don't even have a photo under their name

. I'd say the adding of KM insignia is a WW2 era done addition.

**KMcollector** · 02-06-2020, 02:23 AM

by Larry C

Our Cap Moderator Mr. Stonemint could give some insight on your cap.
Perhaps send him a PM including the link to your thread.

Im not a cap collector but I do know leather straps and hangers for edged weapons and the cap chin leather is recent. It does not match the age and also lacks the conditon of the cap.

Regards Larry

Thanks for the comment Larry

I definitely agree it's not the original WW1 chin strap but I do believe it's a late war replacement and then stored very well. I have included detailed photos of the aging on the chin strap and also a comparison of how it is very similar to the aging of a Luftschutz helmet chin strap. Also note how the supposed Aug. Geiger repair uses the same backing material for the chin strap and liner.

**KMcollector** · 02-23-2020, 03:21 AM

by KMcollector

This is a copy of a thread I posted on the home of Cloth headgear. The reason i'm posting it here is for more people to see it. Hello gentlemen, you are witnessing one of the most important Kriegsmarine posts to be on WarRelics. Here I have a excellent WW2 Kriegsmarine Admirals visor cap that I bough for a bargain not long ago. My unofficial statement on it is: The visor is very complicated indeed. But before we dive into this I would like to state that any comments saying this is 100% Fake will be ignored. Everything is original on the cap. This cap came from the supreme collection of a well known collector. The cap has many scenarios it could have gone through. Lets start out with the most obvious situation. The original owner of the cap had served in the imperial German navy (Hence the visor being in a imperial form). He then proceeded to carry out his naval career in the Reichsmarine (Hence the Reichsmaine styled wreath). And finally ending his career in the Kriegsmarine as a admiral. This pathway would seem the most logical but may not be the case. See,as shown in the pictures the cap liner is stamped Aug. Geiger Kiel. Deeper research reveals the company not only was in business during Pre-WW2/ During war time, but also Pre-WW1/ War time. They are most known for their Tellermutze's. So this brings up the question of if the liner is a replacement by the company? Is the cap a privet purchase from the company? Is this just a standard Reichsmarine cap? Or, is this truly a WW1 Aug. Geiger produced cap ? I would agree with that its a repair made by the company including the liner, a new chinstrap, and also the addition of gold oak leaves and the national eagle. But even that scenario has possible flaws. In the cap I can see a clear statement. Just like many high ranking men in the Third Reich. They wanted to give a background of their career. EVEN HITLER. What I see represented is; Service in the First World War, service in the Reichsmarine, and service in the Kriegsmarine. If you are still here i'm pleased you took time out of your day to read this. I'd really like to hear any information or opinions any of you have to provide. I ask you nicely to keep this thread positive. Best regards

!UPDATE! This cap used to be part of the Sam Nesmith Collection of San Antonio. He was the director of the Texas Museum of Military History owning most of the items on display. After his death in 2018 part of his vast collection was auctioned off and this cap being in it.