M-43 hats in modern wear.

[PaulW]

Yes, and in the early 70's a DPM version was worn nicknamed the 'crap hat'. I used to wear one on exercise in West Germany.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dp...w=1366&bih=651

I wore a M43 (BW version with repro SS insignia!) to school in the early 80s, much to the annoyance of some! I also wore one recently without insignia when skiing in France.

Indeed, know them well, was issued one in 1982 as a recruit. Already a collector and student of German (and other) militaria I remember being surprised by the familiar design! Have tried to find one in my size since (for Old Time's sake), but no luck so far!

Regards, Paul

[kammo man]

Called CRAP hats.

[fik]

It's not an M43, just a wool M41 style hat that I got off ebay. I added the cockade and soutache. I wear this to work on cool/cold days. People seem to like it.

[matthias_AC]

They were pretty common after the war and up into the 60s'.

Thats correct without any doubts. Lots of veterans, especially those who worked in farming, used to wear their old military clothing after the war, sometimes dyed so it wouldn´t look too military. Not only caps, but also pants, tunics etc.

But these days are gone....

[TWS]

As has already been pointed out, the general style of the M43 cap is based on a historic German style and was not invented by the Wehrmacht.
The Bundeswehr continued with an M43-like cap and I still think I have one from the 60's or 70's put away somewhere. It was a cultural design not unique to the III. Reich - as pointed out it was already popular ski accessory. Same with the black Panzerhosen. German ski pants prior to the war were extremely similar.

As far as post-war wear of Wehrmacht or III. Reich clothing in general, of course it was common - as probably most members here know. Many of the citizens of Germany were "bombed out" and had lost most of their possessions and sometimes it was a struggle just to get enough to eat and the purchase of new clothing was way down the priority list.

I just watched an original amateur film shot in Augsburg a couple months after the war - summer of 1945 - and I could see one guy walking past the camera wearing Heer issue feldhosen and in another shot there is a guy wearing what appears to be a Kriegsmarine jacket stripped of insignia.

[TWS]

Thats correct without any doubts. Lots of veterans, especially those who worked in farming, used to wear their old military clothing after the war, sometimes dyed so it wouldn´t look too military. Not only caps, but also pants, tunics etc.

But these days are gone....

I lived in Schwetzingen (bei Heidelberg) from late 2001 through all of 2002 and I had a German friend in Zwingenberg (Hesse) that I would visit frequently. He used to tell me about his Bauern neighbor who would still wear an original camo smock when working in his fields. The man was not quite old enough to have been in the war, so I think he got it from some other, older, family member. I believe my friend was upset that the man would not give it to him.

[GeorgM]

Just to answer my own question: No, they don't. I saw exactly 5 of the style during my recent trip to Germany and Austria. Two were on the heads of German soldiers in the Munich Hbf, one was a sculpture on a monument at the top of the Untersberg near Salzburg, in a picture of a group of firemen with everyone wearing one, and one was an Austrian version in a shop which, interestingly enough, was CHOCK FULL of other stuff (uniforms, SS fez, STG44 on the wall, etc.) I got the impression from the museums and groups of touring school children we saw that those were not "the good old days" (most excellent book, IMHO) and that anyone who wore one in something other than an official capacity might be seen as a very odd duck and viewed with some suspicion, regardless of how practical such a piece of attire might be. My advice to any future readers who may stumble on this post is: Leave it at home if you are thinking of taking one to Germany. You will stick out like a sore thumb and a pretty silly one at that.

[Willi Z.]

You mean your original question was regarding whether a visitor to Germany should/ could wear a M43 cap? Seriously?

Yes, sticking out like a sore thumb and pretty silly would have been my polite response, as a minimum....

[GeorgM]

Nah...if you read my original question, you would have seen that I was asking about a pic of some guy wearing one and if that is still done, as I thought it was kind of weird. So, having just come back, I can say that, in the main, people don't wear the style, even without badges. I am sure you know much more about it than I do, Wili...I was just faced with a guy who appeared to be a nice young guy wearing one 40 years after the end of W.W.II.

I did, however, see a reality show about some bar in Berlin where a bouncer had an SS tuxedo badge tattooed on the back of his head. Interesting.

But then...of course...why would the arms bearers of Germany still wear them now? Tradition? Tradition of...what...when??