A German Labour Front (Daf = Deutsche Arbeitsfront) Officer's Side Cap

Constructed with a black wool exterior, with two rising peaks forming a valley between the two, the edges of the peaks and the sides of the cap trimmed in silver-coloured bullion piping in a thatched pattern, the side piping gently sloping downward towards the front, eagle insignia in rolled silvered bullion wire in various textures on a black wool base, sewn in place on the peak at the front, illustrating a right-facing spread-winged eagle, its talons gripping a wreathed swastika, with two silvered magnetic pebbled metal buttons below. The interior with an intentionally-designed partial sweatband at the front and emboss stamped, the stamp clearly inscribed "DEUTSCHE" on the top line, lined in blue rayon, a manufacturer's label stitched in place on the left side of the peak in the dome, the label printed in black ink with a large RZM insignia at the left and a large DAF insignia at the right, marked "Mütze für Werkscharen der DAF" (Cap for DAF Work Groups) and "Reichszeugmeisterei der NSDAP.", numbered "Nr. A 160363", marked "Hersteller" (Manufacturer) and coded "104", above "Gesetz vom 20. 12. 34 / Uniformteile müssen sichtbar das Schutzzeichen der RZM der NSDAP. Iragen Bekanntmachung v. 16. 1. 1935", with the size stamped "59" in white ink on the right side of the peak in the dome. The cap measures 120 mm x 300 mm, exhibiting light soiling on the interior lining near the opening, very clean, with intact stitching and is free of interruptions in the fabric, near extremely fine.

Footnote: The Deutsche Arbeitsfront, (German Labour Front), originally founded in 1933 and became an official NSDAP organization in October 1934. Its stated purpose was to educate the workers in industry and commerce for smooth and efficient operation of all labour in the Third Reich. The structure of the DAF was basically the same as the NSDAP with different political levels of organization. Due to the diversification in labour, the DAF was divided into sub-sections for specific trades and/or professions and it also controlled the Kraft durch Freude (KdF = Strength through Joy) organization which provided recreation for workers. However, the DAF’s most important goal was to enforce the political stability of the large mass of the work force. One of the sub-sections of the DAF was the DAF-Werkscharen (DAF Work Groups). The Werkscharen were established in February 1935 and were to act as the NSDAP’s "watch-dog" in industrial factories.