Description
This is a rare original WWII Dutch “Staatsbrandweerpolitie” / State Fire Police Department “Holland” visor cap.
One of the very few originals that still exist nowadays.
Dark grey wool with chinstrap and the typical insignia with cockarde and “exploding grenade” insignia on the front.
Overall i’d rate the visor cap as a whole simply “good”. It was obviously used and showssome typical old age damages, but nothing too disturbing. These are so very rare to find and are actually unknown e,g, to many collaboration collectors.
Background:
On May 10, 1940, German troops invaded the Netherlands. The Netherlands came under a civilian German occupation administration. The line of authority for the Dutch municipal fire brigades ran via the mayors to the Department of the Interior. In October 1940, a Fire Department Inspectorate was established in this department. Many fire chiefs were cautiously positive about the establishment of a government inspectorate that could take up ideas for improving fire service. In Nazi Germany, the fire service was merged into the Ordnungspolizei (Order Police) in 1938; The German police leadership in the Netherlands therefore interfered with the fire brigade organization in the Netherlands from the outset. The German police chief Rauter ordered the creation of the National Fire Brigade: a barracks and militarily organized, mobile fire brigade column, based on the German model. In March 1943 this “Brandweerpolitie-afdeling Nederland” [Fire Police Department “Netherlands”] was operational. In the spring of 1944, the “Rijksbrandweer” [National Fire Service] consisted of the “Staatsbrandweerpolitie-afdeling Holland” [State Fire Police Department “Holland”] and the “Staatsbrandweerpolitie-afdeling Brabant” [State Fire Police Department “Brabant”], each of four companies. The units of “Holland” were stationed in The Hague, Baarn and Rotterdam; that of “Brabant” in Deurne and Winterswijk, close to the Ruhr area. Fire and police departments had proven their value in numerous large and small fires in the Netherlands. Units of the departments were also deployed in Bochum, Essen, Aachen, Wesel, Kleve and Emmerich.
The Fire Department Decrees of 1941 and 1943 drastically changed the organization of the fire service. Fire services came under the responsibility of the police. In eight cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, professional fire brigades, the “Staatsbrandweerpolitiekorpsen” [State Fire and Police Forces], were established. In 18 municipalities designated by the department, the fire departments became municipal fire police forces. The dress code and ranks of the police started to apply to firefighters. Forced by war conditions, the fire brigade had grown enormously; In total, approximately 47,000 firefighters were employed during the occupation: approximately 3,200 professional firefighters, 2,000 members of the air protection service, 12,000 volunteers from the forest fire brigades and 30,000 members of volunteer and compulsory fire brigades. Of course, the changes during the occupation were ordered by the German occupier, to limit damage to the comprehensive German war effort.
