Waffen-SS General's schirmmütze?

[EH3R]

Hi all,

I'd just like to get some opinions on this hat.

Here's some more information I can see or have been told about this hat:

- it has silver aluminium piping around the top of the cap and around the top and bottom of the black band
- the band feels like velvet
- the insignia and the buttons holding the cords are made of a coppery metal material
- the sweatband feels like leather, and is a blue-grey colour
- the lining of the hat where the manufacturers label is, is a grey silk
- the manufacturer seems to be the company "Das Zeichen fur Wertarbeit MWS (1877)"
- the hat seems to have gone through some dramatic things....there is a hole in the black band just left of the totenkopf which goes through the solid material inside and out the inside of the hat. There is another full thickness hole on the top of the hat, the totenkopf is also broken - the bones have snapped off the skull but they are still attached to the hat
- the hat was apparently found in the Alsace region

I have been wondering about who this manufacturer is, and why the insignia and buttons aren't silver as seems to be the norm. And many other Generals caps I've seen have had beige silk lining and a brown leather sweatband, unlike the grey/blue here.

What does everyone think?

[stonemint]

Sorry, but it is a West German cap tricked out to look like SS.

[EH3R]

Hi stonemint. Thanks for the info...just wondering, what gives it away as such?

[ErWeSa]

Fabric, sweatshield, sweatband, piping, shape, stuffing, lining, stiches that secure the lining.....

[CBH]

The fact that it's West German gives it all away.
And junk insignia, I might add.
Join the Gold Club and study originals before you waste thousands of dollars.

[stonemint]

It's blackie brother is available right now on Ebay:

German WWII Black Visor Cap Hat | eBay

[ErWeSa]

I wonder what these were originally made for - the gray one could be a modified BW cap, but the black one? Skeleton interior (unless the lining was removed), silvery piping - perhaps funeral personnel? Could the misplaced tag be an original?

[CBH]

They must have put the TK on these hats Red Hot, to cause the TK scorch that they all still carry.

[stonemint]

I wonder what these were originally made for - the gray one could be a modified BW cap, but the black one? Skeleton interior (unless the lining was removed), silvery piping - perhaps funeral personnel? Could the misplaced tag be an original?

Wolfgang--IMO, they were made for stage/film use, and it appears that Pekuro made most of them (this one probably was a Pekuro as well).
In addition to WH examples, I have seen postwar-made Political Leader visors by Pekuro as well.