BACKGROUND: The German armed forces had a tradition, dating from the 1700's, of maintaining a separate branch of Administrative Official’s attached to the army to oversee all administrative functions, thus freeing up active army Officers and allowing them to concentrate on actual military matters. The Officials were responsible for a wide variety of administrative tasks from Court Martial, Librarian, Supply, Technical and Meteorological Services, to School, Barracks, and Hospital administration. On it’s inception the Luftwaffe also established an Administrative branch of service that included the Feuerschutzbeamte der Luftwaffe, (Fire Protection Officials of the Air Force). One function of the Feuerschutzbeamte was to provide fire fighting and protection services to all Luftwaffe airbases, depots, installations etc. The Feuerschutzbeamte utilized civilian employees mainly drawn from civil fire departments. Both the officials and the civilian employees were not granted the status of soldiers but were classified as Angehörige der Luftwaffe, (Members of the Air Force). The officials and the civilian employees originally wore dark blue uniforms and headgear that was similar to the Feuerschutzpolizei, (Fire Protection Police), with different insignia for each group. Regulations of November 1940 altered the officials uniform to the standard Luftwaffe blue/grey, with different insignia, although the civilian employees continued to wear the dark blue uniform and headgear. The headgear worn by the officials and civilian employees included a visor cap that was basically identical to the standard Luftwaffe visor cap but in a different color and different insignia. The civilian fire brigade personnel were allocated crimson waffenfarbe, (Branch of Service Color), which was displayed as piping on EM/NCO’s visor caps.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Nice quality, dark navy blue, wool/rayon blend construction visor cap features a black wool centerband, and crimson wool waffenfarbe piping to the crown edge and both the top and bottom edges of the centerband. The internal crown stiffening wire, internal padding and a vertical stiffener to the interior front center are all still intact and give the cap a nice, rounded top form with a high, central, forward peak. The front center of the cap has a right facing, silver washed, stamped alloy, NSDAP style national eagle clutching a wreathed, canted, swastika in it’s talons. The eagle retains about 70% of its silver wash with spots of wear to the base alloy. The front center of the centerband has the unique, silver washed, stamped zinc alloy, Luftwaffe civilian members winged wreath encompassing a canted swastika. The winged wreath and swastika have lost all of their silver wash and reverted to the flat matte grey of the base alloy. Both the eagle and the winged wreath and swastika are secured to the cap by prongs on the reverse. The cap has a black, patent leather chinstrap with two, black painted, rectangular, metal, retaining clips and two, black painted, vertically oval, metal sliding length adjustment buckles. The chinstrap is secured to the cap by two, smooth, black painted sheet metal buttons. The cap has an extended, forward, black lacquered, vulcanfibre visor with a raised lip near the forward edge. The interior of the cap is fully lined with an orangish/tan cheesecloth to the body and an orangish/tan oilcloth to the crown. The crown lining has a clear celluloid sweat rhomboid fully intact. The lining beneath the sweat rhomboid is well marked with the silver printed, manufacturer’s name, location, date and script, "Carl Halfar Uniform-Mützenfabrik Berlin N.20 Prinzenalle 74 Leiferjahr 1941". The crown lining beneath the sweat rhomboid also has the silver printed size, "56". The interior of the cap also has a wide, tan leather sweatband with ventilation perforations to the front forehead section fully intact. The sweatband has a faint, handwritten name. The interior of the cap also has some of the manufacturer’s original tan, shipping/storage tissue paper inserted between the crown and body. Beside the lost wash to the insignia the cap is in overall very good condition with minimal age toning and one pinhead sized moth nip to the crown.

GRADE ****1/4                             PRICE $750.00