BACKGROUND: On June 17TH 1936, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was appointed to the newly created position of Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern, (Chief of the German Police in the National Ministry of the Interior), effectively giving him full control of all police agencies within Germany. As a result of this appointment and the restructuring of all the separate German state police into a single national police force new regulations were instituted to bring about uniformity in dress for all police through-out the country.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Nice quality Gendarmerie, (Rural Police), Officer’s visor cap features a mottled police green wool/rayon blend body, a mid-brown badge cloth centerband and Gendarmerie orange wool truppenfarbe, (Branch of service color), to the crown edge and both the top and bottom edges of the centerband. The front center of the cap has a three piece national tri-color cockade consisting of a black, fluted, pressed cardboard base, a natural aluminum roundel and an inset red felt central dot. The front center of the centerband has a stamped, polished aluminum, second pattern, police eagle encompassed by a vertically oval oak-leaf wreath. The cap has an interwoven, twisted silver/celleon chin cord secured by two, small, silver washed, pebbled alloy buttons. The cap has a black vulcanfibre visor with a raised lip to the forward edge. Typical issue type lining is complete. The interior crown lining is well marked with white inkstamped size marking, "56". Complete sweat diamond. Pressed paper Erzats sweatband is complete, but has several tears. A few small moth holes here and their.