Polizei Headgear

[W.Unland]

Hello,

Here is a small representation of the different visor caps used by the German civil police forces between 1934 and 1945. There were various branches of the police and like the German military, each of these branches was differentiated by a different color piping.

Prior to the standardized uniform regulations of 1936 the civil police was made up of various Landespolizei, or State police agencies, each with their own distinct uniform. The largest was the Prussian Landespolizei who wore this cap:

[W.Unland]

After the standardization of 1936 the familiar "police green" caps replaced the Landespolizei cap. The largest branch of the police was the Schutzpolizei. This branch was composed of the militarized "barracks" police as well as armored police and the civil police in large cities. Their branch color was green, with a brown cap band:

Officer's silver chin cords could be worn by senior NCO's as well as officers in the civil police so rank cannot be determined simply by looking at a police schirmmutze.

[W.Unland]

The second largest branch of the civil police was the Gendarmerie. This branch was made up of mountain police units, ski patrol units and police assigned to rural areas. Their branch color was orange, and on early caps the cap band is a much lighter brown than on the caps of the other branches:

[W.Unland]

The Schutzpolizei d. Gemeinden was a rather small branch of the police which were hired by small towns not assigned Schutzpolizei protection. These were small city police, and were eventuall merged into the Schutzpolizei, so their relics are very hard to find. Their branch color was a deep wine red/ carmine:

[W.Unland]

The next largest branch would have been the Feuerschutzpolizei. This was the armed fire fighting service. This was NOT the fire department, but a uniquely German organization of fire fighters that held full police powers and were armed with weapons similar to the Schutzpolizei. During the war they were responsible for protecting war production facilities and captured strategic facilities both from fire and with arms. In the few cities to which they were assigned they were to protect against sabotage, arson etc. Their branch color was the bright pink carmine of the fire department but on a police green cap. The pre-war caps had a black cap band, later caps a brown band. The early caps are often passed off as Waffen SS piped panzer caps:

[W.Unland]

The Wasserschutzpolizei was the waterways protection police. This was a very small organization charged with patrolling rivers and lakes, and in cooperation with the navy harbors. They wore navy type uniforms and blue caps with same material "piping":

[W.Unland]

Another small brnch was the Verwaltungspolizei which are often called the "administrative" police. This branch was responsible for non protective police functions such as food inspectors, building inspectors, licensing officers and so forth. They were not generally uniformed so their relics are rare. All members held officer's pay grades except while in training, so with few exceptions all caps are officer grade. Their branch color was gray:

[W.Unland]

The Luftschutzpolizei was made up of members of the Luftschutze other than air raid wardens. These were technicians and fire fighters who responded to repair damage caused by air raids. They came under the control of the police early in the war, and wore hand me down luftwaffe uniforms and side caps. Although authorized and described in regulations this is the ONLY luftschutzpolizei visor cap that I know of. This branch was made up of old men too old for regular police or military duties so they were not involved in parade or "formal" activities where a visor cap might be called for. I surmise that this cap was made for some special occasion or for a particularly fashion conscious NCO. The branch color was green, worn on a Luftwaffe gray cap:

[W.Unland]

And lastly the Feuerwehr, or volunteer and career firemen. Like firemen everywhere their traditional uniform was blue, and they continued to wear blue during the TR period. Their branch color was a bright pink carmine:

[W.Unland]

Of course there are more than a few caps that I personally don't have examples of. I would invite anyone having them to add to this post.

There was a white topped, red piped traffic police visor cap, as well as white topped officer's caps in all of the other branch colors. I hypothesize that a black piped TENOpolizei visor cap must exist as well, although I have never seen one in period photos. General officers wore green Schutzpolizei branch piping with gold insignia as all TR police generals were assigned to the SchuPo. There were NO silver or gold piped police visor caps.

In conclusion here is an overlay photo showing an overview of the different police branch color piping on police caps.

Thanks for looking.
Regards,
William Unland