DAF Ortsgruppe Overseas Cap

Product Description:  This DAF Ortsgruppe Overseas Cap is a rare and well-preserved example of early political headgear, this DAF Ortsgruppe Overseas Cap reflects the distinctive styling and organizational identity of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront during the pre-war and early wartime period. Notably, the cap features the earlier light blue piping denoting Ortsgruppe level, a detail later superseded after 1938 by silver or gold piping according to rank, making this an especially desirable early variant for advanced collectors.

Constructed in thick wool with a pronounced nap, the cap displays only light, even wear consistent with age and careful use. The piping remains largely intact, with minor areas of wear that do little to detract from its overall presentation. The interior is unmarked, with no visible maker or size stamps, a characteristic encountered in some early production examples.

Condition is excellent, with strong form, clean lines, and an appealing untouched quality. As an early and visually distinctive example of DAF headgear, this DAF Ortsgruppe Overseas Cap offers collectors a scarce opportunity to acquire a historically significant and display-worthy piece, valued for its period features, condition, and increasing rarity within the field of World War II militaria.

Historical Description: The “side cap” was a part of the uniform worn by nearly all military, paramilitary, political and civil organizations in the Third Reich. It was a narrow hat that could be folded flat and tucked into a belt or haversack. This was, at the time, a very stylish type of uniform cap; in the German Army, it replaced the round “pork pie” style of field cap used in the Great War. The German name for this cap, in most organizations, was “Feldmütze”- field cap. Despite the name, it was often worn as a daily service cap by postal workers and other personnel who would never be deployed to the field.  The men and women who wore the side cap gave it the nickname “Schiffchen,” meaning little boat, due to its shape. The side caps were made in the same type of fabric as the uniforms, in the uniform color particular to each organization. The side caps were adorned with branch-specific insignia, usually bearing some form of the German eagle and swastika national emblem. Many side caps also bore red, white, and black national cockades. The insignia were usually embroidered or woven, but metal devices were used on some caps as well. Officer caps generally were distinguished by silver braid along the top edge and/or on the upper part of the flap at the front of the cap and were often custom tailored from fine fabrics. The German military, and many other organizations, had broadly replaced the side cap with a new, more practical cap featuring a brim, by 1943. But the side cap continued to be worn by some troops until the end of the war.

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