The Schiffchen of Gerhard Otto Holzweiss

[TWS]

Probably now the coolest Schiffchen (overseas cap, garrison cap, slip cap, side cap, take your pick) that I own.

This arrived a few weeks ago but with the MAX and all else, I just now found time to photograph it and make a thread. Gerhard Holzweiss spent some of his service time in Kradschützen-Abteilung (motorcycle battalion) 3, a unit whose lineage allowed its members to wear the Schwedter Adler. He evidently liked that a lot as it seems he affixed it to a variety of his headgear and kept doing so after he was later assigned to Panzer-Aufklärer-Abteilung 3, also within the 3rd Panzer Division. Once a soldier served in a unit entitled to wear that traditional insignia, he was allowed to wear it ever after, even after he transferred out to another unit.

[TWS]

My small grouping is, unfortunately, only part of the entire Holzweiss Nachlass. At some point it was split in two. I am friends with the original collector who pulled it out of woodwork and I reached out to him and he graciously sent me big high-resolution scans of the portion that split off in another direction. Because I would very much like to reunite the entire grouping he also at my request contacted the last owner known to him of that portion. Unfortunately that collector had since passed it along. Here are a just a few of the scans showing some of the other items that were in the Nachlass.

[stonemint]

T, congrats on acquiring not only a killer set, but one that is rare as hens teeth--a Panzer overseas with a Schwedter that we know is original.
It has to be one of the rarest pieces of Panzer headgear out there....

[Adrian Stevenson]

Very nice indeed.

[TWS]

T, congrats on acquiring not only a killer set, but one that is rare as hens teeth--a Panzer overseas with a Schwedter that we know is original.
It has to be one of the rarest pieces of Panzer headgear out there....

Very nice indeed.

Thanks Chris and Ade! A good friend and highly esteemed Panzer collector had it and I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time.