The S?ºdwester- Slouch Hats of the German Colonies-

German Colonial troops in the late 19th and early 20th Century wore a kind of Slouch hat in Africa.
These Hats are beautiful and deserve a mention here-
I have been given approval by the owner, to use these photos .
(Bartenders- please feel free to move this thread to a more appropriate area if necessary.)

I bring you the "Südwester".
Images: "Copyright Doppler Collection"

Enjoy!













Images:"Copyright Doppler Collection"

More, detailed information and images can be seen at Chris Dale's excellent web site:

http://www.germancolonialuniforms.co.uk/




B
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Just about all involved in the Boer War wore(!)some kind of Slouch Hat.

B
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Thought you all might appreciate them.

B
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Hi Art(High Art)-

The "rosette" is a cockade/kokarde- Imperial Germany national colours- armed services- yes. Some of the field caps had a German cockade on the front of the crown and a "state/region" cockade on the band- Barvaria, for instance.
Not sure about brim and crown but wider than a lot of Western hats and maybe a smidge lower in the crown..? Some brims are wider than others, as you can see.

Unlined I believe and probably a fairly heavy hat but not ultra thick Western.
Probably Rabbit/Hare, I would guess.

They are lovely hats, huh?

B
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No connection- not stupid either-

"S?ºdwester"
German SouthWest Africa.
"S?ºdwest Afrika".

"Sou'Wester", the name of the foul weather hat, refers to foul weather from the South-West. Different definitions.

B
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Here's one of mine-



B
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Not really-

1)A place.
2)Weather from a direction.

It IS easy to see that one is South West in English and the other is South West in German but I thought we were talking about an actual connection.
That would surely be just too obvious to mention...



B
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Correct.
Hold your water.

I won't be getting one of these.

B
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