WWII German Police POLIZEI SHAKO EAGLE

WWII German Police POLIZEI SHAKO EAGLE, (Tschako Adler).  This has the correct rubber washers, threaded screws and nuts. We were only able to obtain a very limited quanity of these eagles.  Dress regulations introduced a slightly modified version of the Shako for wear by all civil police personnel with minor variations. When worn the Shako was outfitted with a new style national eagle and swastika. The first pattern police eagle and swastika was originally introduced on April 23RD 1934 and a slightly modified, second pattern, police eagle and swastika was introduced on June 25TH 1936 to replace the first pattern. Second pattern, (Circa June 1936-May 1945), right facing eagle features out-stretched wings, clutching a wreathed, canted swastika in it’s talons and is superimposed on a vertically oval, opened top, oak-leaf wreath with the eagles wings extending beyond the outer edges of the wreath.

The word shako originated from the Hungarian name csákós süveg (“peaked cap”), which was a part of the uniform of the Hungarian hussar of the 18th century. Other spellings include chako, czako, schako and tschako.

From 1800 on the shako became a common military headdress, worn by the majority of regiments in the armies of Europe and the Americas. Replacing in most instances the light bicorne, the shako was initially considered an improvement. Made of heavy felt and leather, it retained its shape and provided some protection for the soldier’s skull, while its visor shaded his eyes. The shako retained this pre-eminence until the mid-19th century, when spiked helmets began to appear in the armies of the various German States, and the more practical kepi replaced it for all but parade wear in the French Army. The Imperial Russian Army substituted a spiked helmet for the shako in 1844-45 but returned to the latter headdress in 1855, before adopting a form of kepi in 1864. Following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, military fashions changed and cloth or leather helmets based on the German headdress began to supersede the shako in many armies.

Although the mid-nineteenth century shako was impressive in appearance and added to the height of the wearer, it was also heavy and by itself provided little protection against bad weather as most models were made of cloth or felt material over a leather body and peak. Many armies countered this by utilizing specially designed oilskin covers to protect the shako and the wearer from heavy rain while on campaign. The shako provided little protection from enemy action as the most it could offer was in giving partial shielding of the skull from enemy cavalry sabers.