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Kaiser's Bunker Imperial German Cloth Headgear Charts

How to use the color charts
Welcome to Kaiser's Bunker Imperial German Cloth Headgear Charts. In these reference pages, I have made full colored large scale drawings of Imperial German cloth headgear for all arms. Collectively, all cloth headgear are referred to as a Mütze (singular) or Mützen (plural).

In German, "Dunkelblau" not only refers to the color "dark blue" but also to all uniforms of any color worn prior to the introduction of the Feldgrau (Field grey) uniforms. This tradition stemmed from the necessity of dressing particular regiments and troops in colors, which would allow commanders to recognize their troops on the battlefield from a distance. So even a Mütze with a green or red top, is still considered "Dunkelblau" as in this context, it refers to the era, not the color.

To make this reference easy to use, you can view the cap colors in seven different layouts. Click the links below to view in the following layouts:
 
Acknowledgements

I would like to publicly acknowledge two good friends of mine, Roger Roy and Sonia Boulet, who patiently talked me through Corel Draw as I struggled to learn the program. I also want to thank Dave Mosher for reviewing the charts for accuracy. While drawing and photo-editing 360+ drawings, mistakes were bound to slip past me; Dave's sharp eye combined with his exceptional knowledge on Imperial German headgear, spotted my errors so I could make the correction.
 
The Drawings

When clicked, the photo of each Mütze in the links above, will open in a new window to show a large size Krätzchen (round visorless field cap) worn by Mannschaften (Other Ranks) and Schirmmütze (visor caps) which were worn by officers and Senior NCOs, but were also privately purchased by the Mannschaften (Other Ranks).
Each window will show:
  • a pre-1910 Dunkelblau Krätzchen;
  • a pre-1910 Dunkelblau Schirmmütze;
  • a 1907/1910 Feldgrau (field grey) Krätzchen; and
  • a 1907/1910 Feldgrau (field grey) Schirmmütze.

In some cases there was no Krätzchen (i.e.: medical officers) so only the Schirmmütze is illustrated.
Click Once To Enlarge
Unless a Mütze was specific to a contingent (such as Bavarian Jäger etc) I have placed a Preußen Kokarde on the drawings, however, the lower Kokarde is dependant upon the contingent and the unit. For all drawings I have taken the liberty of placing the Reich's Kokarde on the top of each Mütze as this was worn after 1897. All Mützen carried only the lower contingent Kokarde centered on the lower band up to 1897.

Click Once To Enlarge		 A word on colors

Cloth color will vary greatly based up the dye, the time it was made, and whether or not it was issued or privately purchased. Issued Mützen are almost always considerably darker than private purchased Mützen which usually will be much lighter in color. On the left are three different samples of Dunkelblau (dark blue). They range from very dark, to very light, but in the regulations, all three units wore Dunkelblau (dark blue).
Some Mützen colors do not seem to match the regulations, even for issued examples. For example, Dragoner (Mounted Rifles) Mützen that according to regulation should be Kornblumenblau (cornflower blue) on top, are almost always Hellblau (light blue) on surviving examples. To address these variations, I attempted to ensure that the colors reflect these realities, while attempting to keep the colors as accurate as possible.

In the end, however, how the drawings appear is dependant upon your monitor settings, primarily the brightness and the contrast.
 
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