German Police Visor Hats
After World War I (1914-1918), Germany entered an era of chaos and economic hardship. German police were organized at a district and city level rather than as a national organization. Their main job during the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) was to try to keep the peace. The level of unemployment and the perceived lack of government helped cause many to turn to radical organizations. These groups often turned to violence as a means to get their message across, which resulted in clashes often uncontrollable by local and state police forces. For example, during the Kapp Pusch, a communist’s attempt at government takeover, the Friekorps Ehrhardt division had to put down the uprising because police forces had no control. As the level of violence increased, the police were forced to become more brutal in their tactics, which included shooting their guns outside of self-defense. Each state within Germany had their own police force that could not officially operate outside their own territory, though collaboration occurred. In total, Germany was limited to 150,000 uniformed police offers by order of the Allied Nations of World War I under the laws of the Versailles Peace Treaty. As the Weimar Republic increasingly ran into trouble, many police officers began to support the Nazi party and its bid for power. This greatly helped Adolf Hitler gain control of Germany in 1933 when he was elected Chancellor.1
The traditional headgear of German police was a fiber shako that featured the state emblem until the Nazi takeover. In some cases, however, visor hats were worn with the undress uniform or when ordered on parade. These visor hats featured a green body of the same material used for the rest of the uniform and a dark brown hat band.2 On the front was a police eagle national emblem that consisted of an eagle surrounded by a wreath with a swastika gripped in its talons. The eagle came in two patterns: the first with its head facing left and pointed wings; the second with its head facing right and rounded wings.3 Above the national emblem was a national tricolor cockade. Around the hat band and crown was piping. Each branch of the police wore different color piping and hat band. National Police wore a dark brown hat band with bright green piping, municipal police wore a dare brown hat band with wine red piping, and administrative police wore a dark brown hat band with bright grey piping. The gendarmerie wore a light or dark brown hat band and orange piping. Fire protection wore a black or dark drown hat band with carmine red piping. A chinstrap, leather for enlisted and silver for officers, was attached to the front by a set of buttons, black for enlisted and pebbled silver for officers. The hat was first issued in 1935 and continued in service until 1945.4
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