Waffen SS Officers Schirmmütze: real or fake?

[Holycats557]

I am somewhat new to collecting WWII militaria and new to this forum. I just came back from a militaria show with what looks to be an SS peaked cap. Its way to small for me and I am pretty sure its fake. Can anyone confirm whether its a fake or not?
There is two small holes on each side of the death head.
Either way I'm keeping it because it looks nice.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Please note that NVA is Nationale Volksarmee der DDR, i.e. East German military. For those less informed about the past, the GDR was around more or less from 1949 until 1990 or so. The NVA in the strict sense from 1956 until 1990, though its predecessor entity got going earlier. If you look on this site, you will find more images of authentic SS caps than anywhere else in the entire, complete, total, and I mean, great big world wide web, as in no place else.....
Some of us have bust our a##es to do so, and we do not even charge an entry fee.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Needless to say, the SS was around more or less from 1925 until 1945. Its regalia is rare and expensive. Do not collect it without reading all the labels.
Also do not collect it if you rely on other people to make expensive, sensitive and strategic decisions with sudden death potential without the self help of your own life long learning. Otherwise, you are totally a hostage to fortune. NVA caps of the last generation are pretty much totally synthetic, which means that no discerning moth or roach would eat it. SS caps have more natural fibers, thingies and what not in them, which critters find very tasty.

[Holycats557]

Thank you. Luckily I bought it for a pretty low price, which is when I knew right away it probably isn't authentic. I'm not a hardcore collector either, as I don't have a lot of money. But I am just starting out. What bothers me most is not the fact that is fake, its that it is so tiny.

[davejb]

As FB said,you really have to know your onions with these caps, its a complete minefield on SS regalia and clothing and even good collectors can get caught out, i really do hope you didnt pay too much for this as they are pretty common caps here and cost about £10-15 at the most

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The old NVA caps are not so rare that you cannot find one to fit your Kopf. In fact, there are enough reproduction SS caps in all sizes to fit all heads, I think. The main thing is not to wear a real one, as they do not hold up well.
When the DDR went out of business two decades ago I secured heaps of these on the spot. I was even in the quarter master's stores of the NVA armored recce unit in Bad Salzungen that would have led the way through the Fulda Gap. A vanished world, to be sure.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

As FB said,you really have to know your onions with these caps, its a complete minefield on SS regalia and clothing and even good collectors can get caught out, i really do hope you didnt pay too much for this as they are pretty common caps here and cost about £10-15 at the most

Thanks, dear colleague, and how true. The early NVA material, which I have actually never really seen, has a certain poetry to it, i.e. from the 1950s.
There are also nice books on same done either by the NVA itself, or by successor persons of very high quality.

The SS thing is really a hall of mirrors in the fun house nowadays, and I am not sure that the internet is of much help, in fact.

[command450]

WOW !!

thank you F B !!!

[Friedrich-Berthold]

WOW !!

thank you F B !!!

Illusions in enigmas in riddles in puzzles in a confusion of foetid woolens.
The NVA stuff is foetid synthetics, or double knit polyester or whatever.
I have some NVA navy sweaters that I have worn for more than a decade, and they are actually wonderful. They are not foetid at all.

[command450]

oh yes!

no capacity on the fallout shelter,the snow globe,rosebud........ brilliant!