Gebirgsjager-bergmutze

[poppo]

Hi all.
I want to share with you this well worn Gebirgsjager-bergmutze!
The cap is in very good contion with some modify made by the soldier.
Period eagle and edelweiss applied.
I hope you like it...

[poppo]

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[poppo]

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[poppo]

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[poppo]

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[Odisseo]

IMO this is a very nice untuched cap!
I like the sweatband material and cap costruction.

[ferdinandmax]

sergio

[SprogCollector]

Novice question: Would this be considered a later/transitional version Bergmütze?

[poppo]

Novice question: Would this be considered a later/transitional version Bergmütze?

I think that the cap is an early version cap because of the wood botton,T eagle,short peak,with changes that affect the tip,and the remove of the air vent hole!
So IMO this cap is an early version...

[Gebirgsjgr]

Bergmütze - version

I think that the cap is an early version cap because of the wood botton,T eagle,short peak,with changes that affect the tip,and the remove of the air vent hole!
So IMO this cap is an early version...

What do you mean by "with changes that affect the tip".

I'm not in total agreement with the time-period, but perhaps we should identify what is meant by early-middle-late war. I like:
1935-37 Pre-war
1938-40 Early
1941-43 Mid
1944-45 Late

Features that favor Early: Steinuß (not wood) buttons. Stiffener (extra piece on inside front). Materials used (wool, lining, leather).

Features that favor Mid: Eagle (1940 or later). Markings (most early caps I've observed have the manufacture name and depot stamp).

Air vents are present and absent without regard to year of manufacture.

Also note - many authors say that the Bergmütze (BM) was replaced by the Einheitsfeldmütze (M43) in 1943, but I have seen a few BM that were definetly made after that. They were not private purchase or M43's with BM features, They were exactly like caps made in 1940, but with 1944 materials.

[poppo]

Hello thank for you comment regard the cap!
sorry for my poor english...
I wanted to say that my hat has a change in appearance.
the cap 'was changed to make it pointed at the front.
I thought cheper its characteristics, was due to an initial production...
but I'm not a great expert for what concerns the material gebirsgjager then each opinion are precious to me...

[SprogCollector]

My question was more fundamental. The crown attachment seam looks like the type used on the M43 vs the characteristic double-seam seen on earlier caps. Plus the front arms are straight cut rather than rounded as on earlier issue caps. These traits seem to appear on some Munich depot caps marked M42 but not on earlier caps.

[phild]

I have done a lot of searches on this forum in the past for GBJ caps and have found a lot of great threads and information, however IMO these caps have never been addressed in even 1/2 of the detail of the M43 caps and these GBJ are in my opinion about 50X more interesting, rare and important than an M43.

IMO the air vents do in fact provide a real clue as to year of manufacture.....of course we are talking about issue caps and not private purchase as all bets are off there in terms of little details. With issue caps you will find that the early ones (maybe pre 38 or 39) had no air vents. I think around 1939 or 40 they added one per side. Please check and correct me on these dates!!

I think around late 1941 they went to 2 vents per side and also dropped the peak sitffener in the front top of the cap.

Assuming that this cap had one vent per side (that is now sewn closed??) and other details I would date this cap to maybe 1940 or early 41. If the insignia is original to the cap (I don't know in this case) it would post date mid 40 and if it was on the dark green backing it would pre-date mid-40, both rules are a rough estimate of course.

I don't know when they quit making the specific "for issue" GBJ cap....I would guess sometime in 1943....but I could be wrong and it could have been in 44. I do know that in my experience that it seems like there are more pre-war GBJ issue caps out there than wartime examples and that the later the cap is dated the harder it is to find.....sort of backwards of what one would expect.


Considering that there were only about 8 GBJ divisions (there were more that were very late war raised fragments and some of these 8 were never fully built) and that 1/2 or more of these ended up in Soviet hands......I can see why not so many of the caps (or tunics) are out there.

[poppo]

thanks for this valuable information..

[Gebirgsjgr]

You’ve made some good points phild,

I agree that Bergmützen (BM) are more interesting then Einheitfeltmützen (M43), but of course that is my preference. We all have different interests.

As far as the air vents, my observation matches yours with the exception of the 2-vent ones. They seemed to continue to make the 1-vent types after 1941 – like it was the maker’s choice. I have seen 0-vent types through-out, and since the specific cap we are commenting on is missing some other BM specific features, I don’t think the number of vents really helps here.

The stiffener in the front is a feature the later caps tend to drop, but I have seen them with it too.

I believe the eagle only eliminates a pre-1940 production, but it seems that many items with dark-green background continued to be produced after 1940.

As I stated earlier – I don’t totally believe the M43 replacement of the BM statement. I’ve seen caps that were M43, with some BM features, though they looked to be issued; not private purchase. I’ve seen M43’s with GBJ insignia. I’ve also seen BMs constructed of late war materials. They too looked issued – and were certainly constructed like earlier issue caps. I have seen too many examples of manufacturers continuing to use old patterns and materials after they were out of style/regulation. In fact you will find a lot of Gbj stuff continued to be produced up to the end of the war – some are remarkably well done with good materials, others to a lesser degree.

The number of troops that wore Gbj clothing and equipment is a little higher. The Jäger troops were supposed to be supplied with the same uniform (I’ve seen photos and artifacts to confirm this, but I’ve never seen any evidence that they were completely re-fitted). The Waffen-SS also used Army uniforms and equipment for their Gbj. Statistically, I don’t think that really changes the percentage of BM to other field caps (M34-M43). Like you, I believe that most of the issue BMs were lost fighting the Soviets (and I’ll add Yugoslavs).

One last note. I have observed many BMs that looked to be “issue”, but were missing one or more standard features. The double-stitching around the crown seems to the most common feature dropped, followed by the rounded flap ends. I believe that in the 1942-1943 timeframe, as more Gbj uniforms were needed (see above about the Jäger and W-SS), that other field cap makers (that were not familiar with the BM pattern and construction techniques), produced BMs as best they could.

Unfortunately, much that we are discussing here is purely conjecture. The evidence is slight and we are just trying to make some kind of sense of it all.