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

[BellyTank]

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
T

 

[Cicero]

Fabulous pictures!
In fact, the famous General Lettow-Vorbeck did wear this hat alot.

 

[DOUGLAS]

WOW! What a great hat. The Germans definitely had style. Thanks for posting those BellyTank.

 

[cookie]

German Slouch Hat

That General had how many Iron Crosses?

BT didn't the Cape Dutch volunteers in the Boer War wear a type of Aussie slouch hat?

 

[BellyTank]

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

B
T

 

[deanglen]

Those are great hats! Nice style! Thanks for posting them!

dean

 

[BellyTank]

Thought you all might appreciate them.

B
T

 

[Duck]

Great looking hats, BT. They remind me of Grogan's hat with the upturn on the other side.

 

[Helen Troy]

If I translate correctly, "Sûdwester" means "south-west." In Norwegian, that is "Sydvest" which also is a name for this very traditional hat.

(It is made of rubber, to protect against the nasty weather.)

The name connection, is it there or is it just me being stupid?

 

[deanglen]

If I translate correctly, "S?ªdwester" means "south-west." In Norwegian, that is "Sydvest" which also is a name for this very traditional hat. The name connection, is it there or is it just me being stupid?

No, I agree, it's pretty likely.

dean

 

[Art Fawcett]

OUTSTANDING!!!

Thanks BT, this is great!!. I've never studied these nor had the chance to so this is a treat for me! First dumb question...is the pin/rosette a German Army symbol? If so, what does it stand for? Looks to be about a 5" brim width, correct? Crown height? Looks to be a pretty thick felt, any idea of the weight? Are they lined? so many questions..

 

[BellyTank]

Thanks BT, this is great!!. I've never studied these nor had the chance to so this is a treat for me! First dumb question...is the pin/rosette a German Army symbol? If so, what does it stand for? Looks to be about a 5" brim width, correct? Crown height? Looks to be a pretty thick felt, any idea of the weight? Are they lined? so many questions..

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
T

 

[BellyTank]

No connection- not stupid either-

If I translate correctly, "S?ªdwester" means "south-west." In Norwegian, that is "Sydvest" which also is a name for this very traditional hat.

(It is made of rubber, to protect against the nasty weather.)

The name connection, is it there or is it just me being stupid?

"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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[BellyTank]

Great looking hats, BT. They remind me of Grogan's hat with the upturn on the other side.

Here's one of mine-

B
T

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I take it, BT, that you haven't had any of these in yer hands? So i can hold all my questions about weight, feel etc of the felt.

bk

 

[deanglen]

"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
T

Granted that there is no connection to Africa, but the designation of southwest, in terms direction, holds, eh?

dean

 

[BellyTank]

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...



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[BellyTank]

I take it, BT, that you haven't had any of these in yer hands? So i can hold all my questions about weight, feel etc of the felt.

bk

Correct.
Hold your water.

I won't be getting one of these.

B
T

 

[Undertow]

These are some awesome pics and thanks also for the pic of the General (to put into perspective how one wore the hat)! :eusa_clap

 

[deanglen]

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
T

I was thinking of the similarity of the Norwegian to the German, and of course the actual referents are completely different.

dean