Bergmütze for Review

[FtrPlt]

All,
I'd be interested in hearing comments/opinions on this Bergmütze. (It's not mine so don't worry about hurting my feelings!). I've largely focused on pre-war and early war contract-produced caps so this one falls outside my comfort zone. That said, this has been in a collection for more than 20 years.

I've posted this on another site and there were comments about two areas -- the makers stamp and the grommets.

The front stiffener being absent surprised me. Externally, this cap suggests it to be from the 1939-41 timeframe. Internally, this cap shares traits with the 1942+ caps.

[spandau]

hi

welcome to the forum.....personally I like it, but wait and see what others say.

Nice shots btw, grommets always cause some people issues, especially Wallace (for those in the uk ....a little joke) !!!!!

cheers

Tony

[FtrPlt]

Thanks Tony. I was fortunate in being able to borrow this cap to study -- specifically because it had features that don't fit with my understanding of features/traits on contract-produced caps. Whether it's good or bad doesn't really bother me. I'm looking to debate the cap and make it prove itself genuine or fake. IMO, a good study item since it has both good and bad features.

[Adrian]

What does the material look like under the edelweiss?

Does it show the same wear as the rest of the cap, is it a different colour or does it look like it's been there for seventy years?

[FtrPlt]

I'm not sure on the fabric under the edelweiß. Will check when I get home. The photos are probably misleading with regards to wear. The cap appears to have little wear and tear on it. Overall wear appears consistent between the interior and exterior.

[S.Vestae]

Seems to be Original...with restored insignias but...I need more details please...

[FtrPlt]

Seems to be Original...with restored insignias but...I need more details please...

Let me know which details you would like to see photos of.

[S.Vestae]

interior details please...

[FtrPlt]

Interior view added to the first post in this thread. My first reaction was immediately noticing there is no stiffener in the front.

Adrian: there is no noticable shadowing under the edelweiß. It's sewn down pretty tightly so I could only look under the petals. The cap has very little overall wear. The color of the wool under the sideflaps is somewhat greener (less brown) than the exposed wool so it has seen some exposure to cause this slight fading. There is some internal staining which mirrors the upper edges of the pulldowns.

[FtrPlt]

Here are my observations and questions for this cap:
In general, the contract Bergmützen progressed in a pretty straight forward manner. Leather sweatband, front stiffener, rounded front arms, and steinnuß buttons are common to the 1936-41 caps. A single vent is added on each side in late 1938. By 1942, the stiffener is deleted; the crown attachment is the same as the M43 (as opposed to the double-seam on the earlier caps); the underside of the visor is drill material; and have two vents on each side.
Using just the above traits, was there a transition from the features of the earlier caps to the later caps which would result in hybrids with features of both? On this example, it externally looks like a pre-1941 contract cap. Internally, it's missing the stiffener but otherwise looks like a pre-41 cap.
Questions:
Did Willy Sprengpfeil produce the Bergmütze as either a contract cap or a private-purchase item?
The makers stamp is subject to debate. Not my area, but the alignment of the last two lines raises eyebrows along with the omission of a date.

The grommets also seem to be questionable. Again, not my area but the crimped part being painted black is the issue.

I only know of two repro caps that have the earlier-style crown attachment and both are one-look fakes. I've seen one fake Czech Bergmütze and it didn't share this pattern.

As I stated earlier, I'm okay with this cap being original or a fake. Excluding the controversy with the stamp and the grommets, what's the opinion of the cap itself? Along the same lines, I'm curious about the debate with both the stamp and grommets.

It finally stopped raining so here are some natural light photos of the cap. There is shadowing/darkening under the front arms and under the pulldowns. Also some lighter shadowing under the petals of the edelweiß. My personal opinion is that shadowing means nothing beyond the fact that the cap has been exposed to light over an unknown period of time. It does tell me the T-badge and Edelweiß have been there during the time the cap was exposed to light. The question is how long does it take for sunlight to create the shadowing? In this case, I know the cap was stored for 15+ years so the exposure took place prior to being in storage. Which then starts the questions of how recently have been Bergmütze fakes been around?