Bückeburger Jäger cap?

[AndersB]

I 'm waiting for this Jäger cap to arrive. Took a chance and bought it on German eBay. It looks like a nice NCO/entlisted man's cap, but instead of the expected Landeskokarde it sports a Reichskokarde on the cap band and nothing above... Post-WW1 alteration? It looks like there might have been two cockades on it. There seems to be numerous pre-WW1 and WW1 caps out there bearing a Reichskokarde only. Any thoughts on that?

The seller firmly claims that it has been used by a member of the Bückeburger Jäger Battalion (No. 7). If that is indeed true, I assume that it should carry the rare white-red-blue cockade of Schaumburg-Lippe, or?

Please enlighten me!

THX in advance!

//Anders

[AndersB]

No thoughts?

//Anders

[Chip M]

One tell-tale indication would be the maker logo on the inside of the cap. That might give you a clue as to what unit the cap was from. I am assuming that it is a private purchase piece.

You are correct about the colors of the needed cockade. You would want a split brad backed version, like the national one that is currently on the cap. It may take you a while to find that!

Chip

[K Bandow]

I believe that is the correct cockade! At first I thought it was the Mecklenburg blue-yellow-red, but in this case it looks to be blue-white-red. Maybe it is black on the outside and my eyes are playing tricks on me. Well, anyways it's a nice cap and worthy of restoring!

[AndersB]

Thanks for the input so far. The cockade that came with the cap is definitely a Reichskokarde. Perhaps the owner got rid of the Landeskokarde and wore the Reichskokarde in its place on ”veterans’ day” or similar in the early 30:s after the ”Machtübernahme” when focus was on German unity not on local identity...
<O></O>
Anyhow, the cap has arrived:

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The Liner is marked with a faded maker's mark "Deutsche Industrie" something and also stamped with a framed "2.0" (unit ID?), and an "E" for Eigentumstück: Likely purchased by the unit and issued to an NCO, or a possibly a direct private-purchase NCO cap.

The small incorrectly placed Reichskokarde (or a previous same-size Landeskokarde) has left obvious marks. There are also clear signs that there has been a Reichkokarde in the correct place.

cont.

[AndersB]

Now, on German eBay I found what looks like a large private-purchase NCO Landeskokarde for Schaumburg-Lippe (the home Fürstentum of the Bückebuger Jäger Battalion), either a reproduction or the real thing in crisp condition... The seller insists that it’s original, and after an in-hand inspection I do believe it’s very old. I have never seen another enlisted man’s or NCO’s Schaumburg-Lippe cockade, but a few officer’s ditto and they look similar to Preussen officers’ cockades. The large diameter of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:metricconverter w:st="on" ProductID="28 mm">28 mm</st1:metricconverter> is puzzling, but it looks too fancy for a Krätschen as the size would otherwise indicate…
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The last picture shows the cap with the old Reichskokarde back in place (if original to the cap) and the Landeskokarde where it should be. (Loosely attached, just to see what it looks like.) The Landeskokarde looks huge, especially compared to the Reichskokarde... I'm nor sure about this "setup"...
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Any thoughts?


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[K Bandow]

In my personal opinion, it would look great without the Reichskokarde on it. Is this cap old enough for that?

[AndersB]

Yes, judging from the small visor, this cap could very well be from before 1897, but there is tiny hole where the Reichkokarde is suppossed to be. I agree that it would look smart without it, but I haven't seen any visor caps with this big cockades...

[Chip M]

I'm thinking the cap is from about 1900. The marking is "2.C." or second company.

That Landeskokarde is too large in IMO and a very early example, most likely from before 1897.

Chip

[AndersB]

Dating...

Thanks for the input. Post-1900, you say... I'm not an expert on dating these things, but would have thought that a short, slightly convex and steeply downwards-pointing visor indicates that it could certainly be from the pre-Reichskokarde era... Does the shape of the top, width of the cap band, etc. indicate post-1900?

I agree that that huge Landeskokarde looks out of place... Is it really an early NCO cockade for visor caps, or could it be for a Krätschen?

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I'm thinking the cap is from about 1900. The marking is "2.C." or second company.

That Landeskokarde is too large in IMO and a very early example, most likely from before 1897.

Chip