HJ Sommermütze summer cap 1935

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HJ31*

HJ31*

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Hitler Youth summer cap.

"Sommer Mutze" in light beige cotton.
Red rayon edging.
Enameled HJ badge on the front, enamel in perfect condition.
Pin fixing.
Marking on the back Otto Hofmann - Ges Gesch.
Interior lined in brown sateen.Inner cover surround in light brown leather.Size 57.RZM label. Manufacturer Hersteller. A2/1507*
Cap number 009882
Very lightly worn cap in superb condition.
Manufactured January 16, 1935.

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NIce. Just a quick correction: these caps were first introduced in 1936 with a stitched eagle (from 1940 with cloth diamond) so the 1935 date relates to the RZM instruction stipulating that party uniform items must have the RZM symbol (y)
 
Garry said:
NIce. Just a quick correction: these caps were first introduced in 1936 with a stitched eagle (from 1940 with cloth diamond) so the 1935 date relates to the RZM instruction stipulating that party uniform items must have the RZM symbol (y)
Click to expand...
Hello Garry. Thank you very much for this information that I did not know...
 
So the introduction of metal badges took place between 1940 and 1941 or a later date?
 
No, the other way round. First there was the metal badge, then from 1940 the cloth rhombus.
There's some bad news, I'm afraid. You said your badge is by Otto Hoffmann?
 
This Otto Hoffmann badge was brought back from Germany by my grandfather in 1945 when he was released (prisoner of war) with other charms from the HJ and soldiers.
It has been in the family for over 79 years and I have owned it for 42 years.

There is controversy over this brand, but at the time a number of products were made before without having had official approval. We had to produce for everyone and quickly.
Entire series were produced in 1933 and 1934.

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HJ31* said:
This Otto Hoffmann badge was brought back from Germany by my grandfather in 1945 when he was released (prisoner of war) with other charms from the HJ and soldiers.
It has been in the family for over 79 years and I have owned it for 42 years.

There is controversy over this brand, but at the time a number of products were made before without having had official approval. We had to produce for everyone and quickly.
Entire series were produced in 1933 and 1934.
Click to expand...

That's interesting. If Otto Hoffmann was making them it will have been 1932/3 I would think. The sole official maker in 1933 was Hofstätter so it's unlikely that Hoffmann would have bothered making them after that.

Very interesting to hear your story though as I say because as yet, it has not been unequivocably proven that Hoffmann did not make these badges. With that in mind, yours may indeed be real as opposed to being one of the very many obvious fakes out there with that maker on them.
 
What I still find strange about Hoffmann: I've found stove builders, clothing companies, glass manufacturers and other things under this name, but no metal goods. Well, it's a very common name, which makes researching it very difficult.
What's more, all the other very early manufacturers still include the location of their company (see the list of examples, Hoffstätter/Bonn, Boerger/Berlin, Oechsler/Ansbach), but not this Hoffmann of all people. Did he have such a name that he was known throughout the country? But why is there nothing else about this company?
I know that this is all circumstantial evidence, not proof.
 
I believe Jo did a microscope inspection of the Hoffmann badges, as we know it sadly did not look good.
 
Hi
a note from GARY about cap badges :
Just a bit of background on these caps: the HJ-Sommermütze was introduced on the 10th of Feb 1936. At that time they were known as the 'HJ-Lagermütze' and they were intended for use by HJ units/groups during tented camps or stays at youth hostels. They were not permitted for wear at any other time other than by leaders attending tented leadership courses. The caps only came in one configuration at that time i.e. there was no special colour designating the Oberbann or indeed Flieger-HJ, Nachrichten-HJ etc so all of these caps had red (Hochrot) cords. The material used for the cap was "Hemdenstoff" so, shirt material. The caps all had cloth eagles and a metal diamond. The designation had changed from HJ-Lagermütze to HJ-Sommermütze by July 1937 when the DJ began to wear them after the black DJ cap (DJ-Schiffchen) was discontinued.

The HJ-Sommermütze is mentioned again in Amtliches Nachrichtenblatt Sonderdruck 7/38 dated 30.9.1938 which reconfirms that the cloth eagle was to be worn on the caps of HJ members with no rank and also those in the lower HJ leadership. However, I see a note in the regulations (appears to be from 1939) stating that only lower leaders wore the cloth eagle (rank range: HJ-Rottenführer (DJ-Hordenführer) to HJ-Oberscharführer (DJ-Oberjungzugführer). We do see summer caps with unpicked eagles from time to time and this change may well be the reason for that i.e. a boy with no rank would have had to unpick the eagle in order to comply with the later regulation.

Cloth diamond replaces metal HJ cap badge: Reichsbefehl RJF 42K dated 17.5.1940 is shown in brackets after a line stating that the diamond was now the cloth type but as I don't have that Reichsbefehl I can only assume that this was the date on which the cloth diamond was introduced. Edit: see post 4 below - cloth diamond in use from Jan 1940.
 
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