VERY RARE Original WWII German Kriegsmarine (Navy) TROPICAL PITH HELMET EAGLE. (Tropenhelm Alder) Certified

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VERY RARE Original WWII German Kriegsmarine (Navy) TROPICAL PITH HELMET EAGLE. (Tropenhelm Alder) Certified. German Naval uniforms and headgear were based on traditional designs that date back to the creation of the Prussian Navy in 1848, and although the uniforms and headgear did evolve during the interim years, many items used during the Third Reich would still have been quite recognizable to the Imperial sailor. The German navy also had a long tradition of brown and white tropical/landing dress that was worn in hot climates with the white uniform also serving as a walking out dress. The tradition was continued through the Weimar Reichswehr, (National Defence Force, Circa 1919-1933), era and in 1929 the Reichsmarine, (National Navy), introduced new brown and white tropical/landing dress uniforms with stand-up collars. In 1937 the Kriegsmarine introduced new style brown and white tropical uniforms with lay down collars. With the impending entrance into the North African campaign in late 1940 the Kriegsmarine developed another new tropical brown uniform independently from the Heer, (Army), and Luftwaffe, (Air-Force), but retained the 1937 pattern white uniform. The Kriegsmarine was the first branch of service to utilize a pith helmet and its development can be traced back as far as 1856 when the first pattern was introduced into the Prussian Navy. The Kriegsmarine pith helmet underwent numerous design alterations from its inception until a final pattern was decided on September 2ND 1940. Originally Officer ranks were distinguished by dual, gilt, braid tress but that was replaced with a short lived, large national eagle worn of the front center of the helmet. The large national eagle was soon replaced with two smaller shields with a national tri-color shield to be attached to the right side of the helmet and a national eagle shield to be attached to the left side of the helmet. Of Note: As with other national eagle insignia utilized by the Kriegsmarine those worn by Administrative personnel were issued with a silver finish as opposed to the standard Kriegsmarine gold finish. Nicely detailed, large, gilt washed, die stamped, tombak alloy construction, early, pith helmet eagle features outstretched wings and is clutching a wreathed, canted, swastika in it’s talons. The eagle’s wingspan is roughly, 108mm wide from wing tip to wing tip and the bottom edges of the wings have sharply scalloped tips. The reverse of the eagle is a mirror image of the obverse and both of the soldered, closed loop, cotter pin attachment loops are intact. The eagle has no visible manufacturer’s markings. Scarce, short lived pith helmet eagle in overall very good condition. Scarce in such good condition. Gettysburg Museum Certified (COA) provided. Rare 100% Guaranteed to be authentic . Sold for historic purposes only. See our other pieces on our web site.    Also note when browsing our web site there are several pages of items, at the bottom of the list look for other page numbers. VERY RARE