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Original EREL Luftwaffe General Officer Visor Cap – Gold Bullion

This exceptional EREL Luftwaffe General Officer visor cap is a high-quality private-purchase example manufactured by Robert Lubstein of Berlin, one of the best-known makers of German military headgear.Constructed from fine Luftwaffe blue-grey cloth, the cap displays the correct gold distinctions for a General Officer, including gold crown piping, hand-embroidered gold bullion insignia and a gold-coloured braided chin cord. Most importantly, the interior leather sweatband retains a faint but identifiable EREL / Robert Lubstein impressed marking, allowing the maker attribution to be strengthened substantially.The combination of EREL manufacture, General Officer configuration and elaborate bullion workmanship makes this a particularly desirable Luftwaffe visor cap.

EREL Luftwaffe General Officer Visor Cap

The crown of this EREL Luftwaffe General Officer visor cap is manufactured from fine blue-grey officer-quality cloth.Its elegant high saddle shape remains well preserved, while gold piping runs around the crown and above the black centre band. This gold trim distinguishes General Officer headgear from standard Luftwaffe officer caps, which normally used silver-coloured fittings and piping.The cloth remains very clean overall and shows no obvious serious moth damage in the supplied photographs.

EREL – Robert Lubstein, Berlin

The cap can now be attributed to EREL, Robert Lubstein of Berlin.Close examination of the brown leather sweatband reveals the remains of an impressed EREL-style maker marking. Although age and wear have reduced its clarity, the surviving impression is consistent with the characteristic markings used by Robert Lubstein.EREL caps are well documented with sweatband impressions incorporating wording such as “EREL Stirnschutz” and related patent information.The presence of the surviving manufacturer impression is particularly important because EREL was one of the leading suppliers of privately purchased officer and General Officer visor caps during the period.For catalogue purposes I would record the maker as:EREL – Robert Lubstein, Berlinwith the additional note:Maker attribution confirmed from surviving impressed sweatband marking.

Hand-Embroidered Gold Bullion Eagle

The upper crown carries an impressive hand-embroidered Luftwaffe national eagle.Fine metallic bullion thread forms the wings, body, tail and central details. Beneath the eagle sits the embroidered swastika, also executed in metallic thread.The embroidery has developed an attractive muted gold patina through age. Individual strands remain clearly visible, particularly across the wings and body.Unlike standard metal cap eagles, this hand-worked bullion insignia reflects the considerably higher quality expected on privately purchased General Officer headgear.

Gold Bullion General Officer Wreath

The black centre band carries a large hand-embroidered gold bullion wreath and winged insignia.Detailed bullion leaves surround the national cockade, while large embroidered wings extend horizontally across the centre band.The cockade retains its red centre, silver-coloured concentric rings and dark serrated outer edge.The combination of the cockade with elaborate bullion embroidery provides one of the most visually impressive elements of this EREL Luftwaffe General Officer visor cap.

Gold General Officer Piping

Gold-coloured piping surrounds the crown and runs immediately above the black centre band.This feature is important because Luftwaffe General Officers used gold-coloured distinctions instead of the silver-coloured trim associated with company and field-grade officers.The piping remains intact and shows only natural age toning.Its colour and construction correspond well with the accompanying gold bullion insignia.

Gold Braided Chin Cord

A braided gold-coloured chin cord sits above the visor.Age has naturally darkened the metallic material, producing a brown-gold appearance. This subdued patination is desirable and consistent with the ageing visible on the embroidered insignia.The cord remains complete and is secured at either side of the cap.It should not be cleaned or polished because doing so would disturb the original surface and period appearance.

Black Ribbed Centre Band

The centre band is manufactured from black ribbed material with a pronounced horizontal weave.It provides a strong visual contrast with the blue-grey crown and gold bullion insignia.The band remains structurally sound and retains a good profile.The bullion wreath appears correctly positioned and sits naturally against the band.

Visor

The black visor remains in very good condition.Its polished upper surface shows only modest age and handling marks. Edge stitching remains clearly visible, while the visor retains its appropriate curved form.The overall condition contributes strongly to the cap’s impressive appearance.

Interior and EREL Sweatband

The interior retains its fine satin-style lining together with a sewn-in transparent celluloid sweat shield.A brown leather sweatband surrounds the interior.Close examination shows natural age crazing and wear to the leather together with period-style stitching around its lower edge.Most significantly, the sweatband carries the surviving EREL manufacturer impression.The lettering is worn, which is unsurprising after decades of use and storage. Nevertheless, its position and surviving form are consistent with documented EREL / Robert Lubstein sweatband markings.This attribution materially strengthens the desirability of the cap.

Robert Lubstein and the EREL Brand

Robert Lubstein operated in Berlin and marketed superior headgear under the well-known EREL trade name.EREL became associated with particularly high-quality military and political visor caps. Their privately purchased officer headgear frequently featured excellent materials, fine tailoring and distinctive proprietary sweatband systems.Collectors especially seek surviving EREL caps where the maker marking remains present.Accordingly, the worn but identifiable EREL marking on this General Officer cap is an important feature rather than a minor detail.

General Officer Identification

The cap should be described as a Luftwaffe General Officer visor cap rather than assigned to one particular General rank.Gold cap distinctions were worn across the Luftwaffe General Officer hierarchy, including ranks such as:Generalmajor Generalleutnant General der Flieger and equivalent branch generals GeneraloberstThe cap itself does not establish which specific General Officer rank its original wearer held.Therefore, it would be incorrect to attribute it to a Generalmajor or Generaloberst without named provenance.

Private-Purchase Quality

The quality of manufacture is characteristic of a superior privately purchased cap.Fine blue-grey cloth, hand-worked bullion insignia, quality interior lining, a leather sweatband and the EREL maker association all point towards a higher-grade piece.The bullion eagle and wreath were considerably more labour intensive and costly than standard stamped metal insignia.Consequently, this cap represents both a scarce General Officer pattern and a desirable named manufacturer.

Historical Context

The Luftwaffe introduced distinctive blue-grey uniforms and headgear during the 1930s.Visor-cap trim provided a clear visual distinction between ordinary officers and General Officers.Standard officers normally wore silver-coloured insignia, piping and cords. In contrast, Luftwaffe General Officers used gold-coloured fittings.EREL was among the prominent private manufacturers supplying higher-quality officer headgear during this period.Today, surviving General Officer caps are substantially scarcer than ordinary Luftwaffe officer caps, while identifiable EREL-manufactured examples attract additional collector interest.

Condition

This EREL Luftwaffe General Officer visor cap remains in very good original collector condition.The blue-grey crown retains excellent shape and appears remarkably clean.Gold piping remains complete, while the bullion eagle and wreath show attractive age toning without significant deterioration.The black centre band is sound.The gold chin cord has darkened naturally with age but remains complete.Furthermore, the visor retains a strong polished surface with only modest wear.Internally, the lining, celluloid sweat shield and brown leather sweatband all survive.Most importantly, the worn EREL impression remains present on the sweatband.No part of the cap should be cleaned or restored.

Authentication and Construction Assessment

The cap displays a strong combination of characteristics expected from a high-quality wartime Luftwaffe General Officer visor:Fine blue-grey officer cloth Correct General Officer gold piping Hand-embroidered gold bullion eagle Hand-embroidered bullion wreath Appropriate national cockade Black ribbed centre band Gold General Officer chin cord Fine satin-style lining Celluloid sweat shield Period leather sweatband Surviving EREL / Robert Lubstein maker impressionTaken together, these features support catalogue identification as:

Original EREL Luftwaffe General Officer Visor Cap – Robert Lubstein, Berlin – Gold Bullion Insignia

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Specifications

Item: Luftwaffe General Officer visor cap Service: Luftwaffe Period: Third Reich / Second World War Rank group: General Officer Maker: EREL – Robert Lubstein Location: Berlin Maker identification: Surviving impressed sweatband marking Crown: Fine Luftwaffe blue-grey cloth Piping: Gold General Officer piping Centre band: Black ribbed material Eagle: Hand-embroidered gold bullion Wreath: Hand-embroidered gold bullion Cockade: Multi-piece national cockade Chin cord: Gold-coloured braided General Officer cord Visor: Black fibre / vulcanised construction Interior: Satin-style lining Sweat shield: Celluloid Sweatband: Brown leather with EREL impression Construction: Deluxe private purchase Condition: Very good original condition

Short Product Description

Exceptional original EREL Luftwaffe General Officer visor cap manufactured by Robert Lubstein, Berlin. Constructed from fine blue-grey cloth with General Officer gold piping, hand-embroidered gold bullion eagle and wreath, national cockade and original gold-coloured chin cord. The interior retains its satin lining, celluloid sweat shield and leather sweatband with surviving EREL maker impression. A particularly desirable named-maker Luftwaffe General Officer cap.

Internal / Inbound Links

Add this paragraph naturally near the bottom of the listing:Explore our other original Luftwaffe uniforms and headgear in the Nordmenn Militaria collection, including senior officer caps, bullion insignia and period uniform accessories.Link Luftwaffe uniforms and headgear to your relevant Nordmenn Luftwaffe category.Then use:Compare this example with our other original German General Officer visor caps and senior officer headgear.Link General Officer visor caps to the relevant Nordmenn collection.A third useful internal sentence is:View our original hand-embroidered Third Reich insignia for further examples of period bullion workmanship.Link hand-embroidered Third Reich insignia to your existing internal group.

Outbound References

For the maker section, link to a documented EREL visor-cap example from Ratisbon’s, where EREL sweatband markings and construction can be compared.Anchor text:Ratisbon’s – EREL Robert Lubstein visor cap referenceFor General Officer construction, use Helmut Weitze as the second outbound reference.Anchor text:Helmut Weitze – Luftwaffe General Officer visor cap referenceThat gives you one external reference supporting the maker and another supporting the General Officer configuration, which is better SEO practice than simply adding unrelated dealer links.