Germany, Drk. A German Red Cross High Official’s Visor Cap, Attributed To Ernst-Robert Grawitz

(Deutsches Rotes Kreuz Schirmmütze). A rare and well-preserved German Red Cross (DRK) High Official’s visor cap, retrieved from the estate of SS-Obergruppenführer Ernst-Robert Grawitz, constructed of white whipcord wool. It features reinforced side walls, fully lined on the exterior with a smooth dark grey wool cap band. Both the top and bottom edges of the cap band are trimmed with gold bullion wire piping. Pinned onto the peak is an insignia consisting of a DRK-style German national eagle clutching a Geneva Cross and overlaid by a mobile swastika. Constructed of bronze with multi-coloured enamels, the eagle measures 22 mm (w) x 26 mm (h). Directly underneath the eagle, the centre of the cap band is pinned with an additional two-piece insignia consisting of a zink tri-colour cockade with a red wool centrepiece, set within a gilded oak leaf wreath. The cap band is flanked on each side by gilded and pebbled magnetic metal buttons, securing in place a chinstrap constructed of multiple rows of twisted and rolled gold bullion wire. It is adjusted with functional dual sliding knots, and rests upon a protruding vulcanfibre visor when not in use. The latter is finished in black on the obverse and in grey on the reverse. A grey leather sweatband fully lines the interior of the side walls, while the interior is also encompassed by a multi-piece white rayon liner. The crown retains a fully-intact transparent plastic rhomboid moisture guard. Unmarked, it measures approximately 235 mm (w) x 250 mm (l) x 165 mm (h) overall. Some issues consistent with age and wear are evident, and include minor soiling and material fatigue to the exterior, with the latter including a small hole to the cap band near the left button, and two scratches to the crown; moderate cracking and chipping to the eagle insignia; loss of finish to the cap band insignia, and; minor interior soiling. This rare and owner-attributed cap is in an overall better than very fine condition.

Footnote: Ernst-Robert Grawitz was born on 8 June 1899 in the Berlin suburb of Charlottenburg. The son of a military doctor and physician, he saw brief service during the First World War before enrolling in medical school at Friedrich Wilhelm University (Berlin). He worked as a physician through the 1920s, specializing in internal medicine. Grawitz became involved in far-right politics during his student years, joining the Freikorps and participating in the Kapp Putsch, also becoming an early supporter of the NSDAP. He joined the SS and NSDAP in 1931 and 1932, respectively. Notably, he was appointed “Reichsarzt der SS” by Heinrich Himmler, becoming the organization’s highest authority on medical affairs and overseeing personnel and hospitals in the growing network of concentration camps. On 17 December 1936, Grawitz was also appointed Deputy President of the German Red Cross (DRK) by Reichsminister Wilhelm Frick, later becoming “Managing President” and supplanting the DRK’s official President, Duke Charles Edward of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in administrative responsibilities. During his time in office, Grawitz effectively melded the DRK and SS, and was also accused of embezzling the former’s funds into the latter’s coffers. Ironically, while carrying out his duties in the DRK, Grawitz was extensively involved in forced euthanasia and gruesome human experimentation conducted by SS personnel in concentration camps. By the end of the war, Grawitz was transferred to the personal medical staff of AH and was one of the final inhabitants of the Führerbunker. Secure in the knowledge that his actions would result in prosecution for crimes against humanity, Grawitz appealed to be allowed to leave Berlin with his family in advance of the Red Army’s capture of Berlin. With permission denied, Grawitz, along with his wife and children, perished in a murder-suicide when he detonated a pair of grenades as the family sat down to dinner at their home in the Babelsberg neighbourhood of Berlin on 24 April 1945.