Original East German DDR Mdl Officer/NCO Visor Cap-Volkspolizei-Size 57

This is a DDR / East German Ministry of the Interior (MdI) peaked visor cap, and the interior markings are useful. “MdI” denotes the Ministerium des Innern, 57 is the metric size, and 1856 is the manufacturer code associated with Emhage/VEB Perfekt, not a date. Comparable MdI caps with the same “MdI / 57 / 1856” marking are documented. 

Original East German DDR MdI Officer/NCO Visor Cap – Volkspolizei – Size 57 – VEB Perfekt

Original Cold War-era East German DDR Ministerium des Innern (MdI) peaked service cap, associated with the East German People’s Police/Volkspolizei system.

The cap is constructed from dark blue wool with contrasting light piping, black lacquered visor and a silver-gray braided chin cord. The front carries the distinctive DDR national cockade surrounded by an aluminum-colored oak-leaf wreath.

The interior retains its original sweatband and diamond-shaped manufacturer’s panel, clearly embossed:

MdI
57
1856
C

The MdI marking identifies Ministry of the Interior issue, while 57 denotes the hat size. Manufacturer code 1856 is associated with Emhage, subsequently VEB Perfekt, a documented East German producer of military and government headgear. The 1856 manufacturer code appears on surviving NVA and MdI caps and should not be confused with a production year. 

There is also an old handwritten collector identification strip inside describing it as a DDR police/NCO peaked cap. This appears to be a later collector notation rather than an original factory label.

Overall condition is excellent, especially for Cold War surplus. The body retains good shape and strong color, the insignia is clean and complete, braided cord remains intact, and the visor displays well. Interior is likewise quite clean with only minor storage and age wear visible. Please review photographs for exact condition.

A very attractive original DDR police collectible with excellent display appeal and desirable intact interior markings.