German & Austrian Hutmachers

[mayserwegener]

Hi there!

Nice to see some German & Austrian Hats here - they have been mostly neglected here so far! In my opinion most of the vintage German fedoras are or really good quality. The felt, usually rabbit felt because there were not too man beavers in Germany, is mostly of exceptional quality as well.

A year ago, I bought a bunch of new old Stock hats in 59/60 cm. My size is about 59,5cm so I had them ironed by my hatter here in Hamburg, Diter Beermann.
Recently, he ironed a new old stock German silk top hat from the 50ies in shape for my head and now it fits perfectly .

@mayserwegener (Name is Programm )
Do you buy all kinds of hats or are all of those hats in your size?

I have to post some pics of my hat this week...

Good to meet you!

This is pretty much the only thread where you will find German and Austrian hat companies mentioned.

That is great that you were able to buy a bunch of new old stock hats. Look forward to seeing the pictures.

Any historical information you can add to the thread would be greatly appreciated. There isn't much available online but I have to believe there is printed text (books, journals, patent records, magazines) available in Germany.

Yes the hats I posted are in my size. Mostly size 59cm some 58/60cm.

 

[mayserwegener]

I'm gonna voice an opinion that some may not appreciate. Here's the thing: these really furry hats, though fedora-like in shape (at least some of them) lack a certain crispness that makes a fedora "cool" (they're certainly not sleek). Again, it's just an opinion, but seriously, these things are shaggy (I keep imagining Chewbacca wearing one, maybe in a color that contrasts with his brown fur)lol .

Yes this type of felt is a bit out there but it is of very high quality. Also a change of pace from the same hat companies/ styles / felts that are posted over and over and over and over and over again on this board = BORING!

 

[Mario]

@mayserwegener: While those long-haired felt types are not really my cup of tea (that is, I wouldn't really dare to wear one of those in public), I still love to see all the great images of them you keep posting. Sometimes, it's like a walk through the more exotic corners of the zoo... "Don't feed!"

@le.gentleman: Good to see another fellow German here on the board - welcome! The majority of my hats are from German manufacturers (even the two Reistols I own were made by Wegener - I still have to post them here), with a few English and one French (which is suspected to be made in the US!) thrown in for good measure. The only 'true' American hat I have is a charcoal-grey Churchill. I seem to be truly European-minded...

Today, I nearly bought a Wegener-made Stetson that I found in a thrift-store, but given the fact that I needed the money for other things and that the hat was slightly on the loose side, I kept the money. They also had two more 1960s, Wegener-made Resistols there, but they were definitely out of my size-range (somewhere around 58, I'd think), just like that brown Habig in Antilope-finish...

 

[mayserwegener]

Back to more main stream. Rockel (Germany) Homburg. This is most likely 1980s.

PS. Mario, Sorry you didn't win that Habig bowler.

 

[Mario]

Back to more main stream. Rockel (Germany) Homburg. This is most likely 1980s.

PS. Mario, Sorry you didn't win that Habig bowler.

Oooh! I love that one! I've been looking for a decent greyish Homburg for quite some time now. There was a really beautiful taupe-colored Tucker & Tucker on the US bay (BIN, $9.99!!!) in absolutely mint condition, maybe two weeks ago, but when I tried to grab it, it was suddenly gone...I missed it by maybe two minutes! Argh!

Yeah, the bowler... Don't really know what went wrong with the snipe. I couldn't even log in the next day, as the login screen didn't show the necessary (bitmap-based) security code you have to enter. Still, thanks again for the tip!

 

[Mario]

@mayserwegener: Did you grab the Bronnold you told me about?

 

[mayserwegener]

@mayserwegener: Did you grab the Bronnold you told me about?

Yes I won that one too. Looks like it is from new old stock. Same seller as the Wegener and shipping was only 6 euro. I will post pictures when it arrives.

Sorry that you didn't win those hats. That Habig was really great. I have been pretty lucky lately with max bids.

 

[Mario]

Congrats on the Bronnold. Looking forward to see some more of it.

Yeah, well. Never happend to me that the sniper didn't bid. Server down, I don't know...never mind. There's still an abundance of beautiful hats out there!

 

[le.gentleman]

mayserwegener,

You bought a bunch of nice hats on ebay - among them some real steals, I have to look look more closely on ebay as well, however I will let you know beforehand otherwise I might push the price and that's the last thing we want!

How many German / Austrian hats do you own meanwhile? Do you wear all of them?

Do you have those hats shipped to the US? 6€ would be dirt cheap considering the distance! Do you have to pay duties in the US?

 

[le.gentleman]

Congrats on the Bronnold. Looking forward to see some more of it.

Yeah, well. Never happend to me that the sniper didn't bid. Server down, I don't know...never mind. There's still an abundance of beautiful hats out there!

What sniper did you use? What time did the auction end? 8 pm on a weekend?

 

[mayserwegener]

mayserwegener,

You bought a bunch of nice hats on ebay - among them some real steals, I have to look look more closely on ebay as well, however I will let you know beforehand otherwise I might push the price and that's the last thing we want!

How many German / Austrian hats do you own meanwhile? Do you wear all of them?

Do you have those hats shipped to the US? 6€ would be dirt cheap considering the distance! Do you have to pay duties in the US?

Yes you can find some nice hats on eBay. I have also bought new old stock hats from hat shops. Also a couple from Dreispitz. I wish I had Mario's hat size though.

I have many, many, many German and Austrian made hats of all different styles. I wear a good number of them actually. By the way the long hair Alpen hats that I just posted are not mine. They are my friends.

Yes I have them shipped to the states all the time. It is possible to send for 6€ if shipped as a letter but that isn't always the case. The only time you can run into problems is with big orders (say 4 or more hats). They will sometimes get hit with a $40.00 customs fee. There is actually a $200.00 limit on textiles.

By the way please post the pictures of your hats when you get a chance!

 

[le.gentleman]

I have to take pics at daylight first, and that's not so easy if you come home late .
I found some pics of my to phat in my archive. I'll try to take more pictures this week.

This was a new old stock top hat from the approx. 1950 - made be Ateha.
It's a very nice hat indeed!
I got it from a good friend who does not live closeby. So, without a confirmateur I had to take my best fitting hat and copy the shape on a piece of paper. Once the hat arrived, it looked perfect, however due to some pressure points I got a headache after a few minutes. So I went to Hutatelier Beermann ( http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?p=823113#post823113 )and Diter Beermann ironed the top hat into the shape of my hat - so now it fits perfectly .

 

[Mario]

What sniper did you use? What time did the auction end? 8 pm on a weekend?

On this occasion I used Sniping4Free.de, the auction ended on Sun., June 28, 17:40 MESZ. I believe the server was down. I've since switched to Snip.pl, which isn't free, but the fees are reasonable enough.

 

[le.gentleman]

On this occasion I used Sniping4Free.de, the auction ended on Sun., June 28, 17:40 MESZ. I believe the server was down. I've since switched to Snip.pl, which isn't free, but the fees are reasonable enough.

fftopic: I've been using snip.pl for years and it always worked for me, unless I set it up to bid just 2 sec before the auction end for a popular item on full hours of weekend days or holidays.

 

[mayserwegener]

I have to take pics at daylight first, and that's not so easy if you come home late .
I found some pics of my to phat in my archive. I'll try to take more pictures this week.

This was a new old stock top hat from the approx. 1950 - made be Ateha.
It's a very nice hat indeed!
I got it from a good friend who does not live closeby. So, without a confirmateur I had to take my best fitting hat and copy the shape on a piece of paper. Once the hat arrived, it looked perfect, however due to some pressure points I got a headache after a few minutes. So I went to Hutatelier Beermann ( http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?p=823113#post823113 )and Diter Beermann ironed the top hat into the shape of my hat - so now it fits perfectly .

Really great Topper! Looking forward to seeing your other hats.

Also thank you posting the Beermann information. I will have to pay a visit to his store/ shop some day.

 

[mineral]

Dutch Place to Get These Hats

I have found a vintage clothing store in Utrecht selling vintage hats of these brands (Habig, Mayser) as well as Borsalino and some European brands I have never heard of. The name of the store is Giensch, at the intersection of Voorstraat and Hardebollenstraat. The good thing is that the hats are far cheaper than eBay (35-55 Euros), and are in excellent condition ... except that the store put their price tags through the felt on the brim. (You can try to picture my face of simultaneous delight and disgust upon seeing those nice hats thus desecrated.)

They are nonetheless of sufficient value that I would have brought all of the them back to the US to share if I had the luggage space. Those of you in Europe or traveling to The Netherlands should go check them out.

 

[besdor]

When I was in Amsterdam a few years ago, I found a few vintage clothing stores that had hats. Lots of them. This was six years ago. I went out and bought two suitcases and filled them up with hats that I resold in my store. They were all Barbisio hats that had come from a clothing store that closed nearby. This is a great city to find hats!



Steven
www.bencrafthats.com

 

[mayserwegener]

I have found a vintage clothing store in Utrecht selling vintage hats of these brands (Habig, Mayser) as well as Borsalino and some European brands I have never heard of. The name of the store is Giensch, at the intersection of Voorstraat and Hardebollenstraat. The good thing is that the hats are far cheaper than eBay (35-55 Euros), and are in excellent condition ... except that the store put their price tags through the felt on the brim. (You can try to picture my face of simultaneous delight and disgust upon seeing those nice hats thus desecrated.)

They are nonetheless of sufficient value that I would have brought all of the them back to the US to share if I had the luggage space. Those of you in Europe or traveling to The Netherlands should go check them out.

Thank you for the info. There are also hat stores in Germany with new old stock. They will most likely not be on display so you need to inquire.

By the way I have rarely paid more than 55 euros on ebay. I would say average is about 20 euro and I have landed some really nice hats. For example I just won this late 50s new old stock Bronnold for 27.00 euro including shipping.

 

[Dr Doran]

An eye-opening thread. I assumed (from some comments a couple of years ago) that everyone on the Lounge hated Germano-Austrian velvety hats. This thread makes me want to wear mine more (it's by West Hamm, whoever that is, and has the metal round initial things in it).

 

[mayserwegener]

An eye-opening thread. I assumed (from some comments a couple of years ago) that everyone on the Lounge hated Germano-Austrian velvety hats. This thread makes me want to wear mine more (it's by West Hamm, whoever that is, and has the metal round initial things in it).

I think most still do but you are safe on this thread until they kick us out. Please post some pictures of your hat.