Quick note about Female and Paratrooper Berets.

The construction of the berets differ considerably. The Paratroopers beret is constructed with three layers of material, the outer gray or orange layer, a middle layer that helps to maintain the berets shape and the lining. The black faux leather band is wide, ridged and the inner edge is trimmed close to the stitching. Two ventilation eyelet are on each side. There is a plastic diamond sweat shield with the size and date.

Female Berets are, well... more feminine. There are only two layers of material, the outer gray layer and the lining. As a result the beret is thinner and more floppy. The black faux leather band is less thick than the pera berets and is not as closely trimmed and has a 4mm loose edge of the faux leather exposed on the inside of the beret.  No eyelets are present. There is no plastic sweat shield, the size and date are stamped on in white ink.

The liner seems to be constructed in three different ways depending on the cockade used. Berets with embroidered cockades have no opening, berets with a metal army or navy wreath have one opening and berets for the air force have two. As shown below.

Just something to keep in mind if you looking for a pera beret, you don't want to end up with a "badged up" female one like the two below from eBay.

Paratrooper Berets.

O.K., here is what I know...... The gray beret was introduced about 1964? The orange beret came into the picture officially in 1970, but did exist as early as 1968.

Prior to 1986 the officer berets could either have used a metal or embroidered wreath, both were used during that time. The metal wreaths were the screw mounted type (below) that are also commonly used on female berets and the female felt kappe. In 1986 the metal wreaths were replaced exclusively by the embroidered wreath. Also in 1986 the Parachuting Wings emblem came into use.

  
 
In 1984 the rear of the beret had a shoe lace type tie added to accommodated a change in the sizing method. Instead of having to produce six different sized berets as in the old metric system of 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60.  They now only had to produce sizes 1, 2, 3. Size 1 being equal to the sizes 55-56, 2 equal to 57-58, 3 equal to 59-60. 1984 seems to be the earliest date for the 1,2,3, sizing system. It would not surprise me if metric sized berets were still produced for a year or two after this change??

 

Date Code

K 1968
Z 1969
M 1970
X 1971
B 1972
L 1973 (1987)
O 1974
S 1975
R 1976
A 1977
U 1978
F 1979
E 1980
G 1981
I  1982
C 1983
H 1984
T 1985
P 1986
L 1987 (1973)
Y 1988
N 1989
D 1990

Size chart

cm -------Uk------- US

54 -- 6 5/8 -- 6 3/4

55 -- 6 3/4 -- 6 7/8

56 -- 6 7/8 --    7

57 --     7    -- 7 1/8

58 -- 7 1/8 -- 7 1/4

59 -- 7 1/4 -- 7 3/8

60 -- 7 3/8 -- 7 1/2

Nationalen Volksarmee.
Ground forces-Landstreitkrafte.
General, gabardine fabric, one piece cockade and yellow cap cord , red piping, red band. Size 61 and dated "T" (1985). Brown band. (Visor type S3117/1i, i-l). VEB 1856.
Officer, gabardine fabric, single piece cockade and silver cap cord , white piping. Size 57 and dated "G" (1981). Gray band. (Visor type S3117/1ii, i-r). VEB 1856. 
Career EM/NCO, gabardine fabric, single piece cockade and black plastic cap cord , white piping. Size 56 and dated "Y" (1988). Brown band. (Visor type S3117/3ii, o-r). Veb 1856. The sweat shield is unusual, it is not heat stamped NVA. 
Kommandantendienst  NCO Visor, gabardine fabric, single piece cockade and black plastic cap cord , white center band. Size 56 and dated "Y" (1988). Brown band. (Visor type S3117/3ii, o-l). Veb 1856. 
Paratrooper Officer Beret. Wool , embroidered cockade. Size 56, dated "1/G" (First quarter/1981). Originally it was issued with a metal officers wreath and lacked the parachuting wings emblem. The embroidered wreath and the wings emblem were added in 1986. On the inside of the beret you can see where the lining has been cut open to remove the original screw mounted  officers wreath.
Paratrooper EM/NCO Beret. gray wool , embroidered cockade. Size 1, dated "1/D" (First quarter/1990).


Officer winter hat, fake fur, gabardine fabric, single piece cockade. Size 57, dated "L" (1987). VEB 1856.
EM/NCO winter hat, fake fur, wool fabric, circular silver cockade. Size 56, dated "N" (1989). VEB 1856. 

Female winter hat, gabardine fabric, embroidered wreath with circular silver  cockade. Size 54, dated 1968.




NVA Skimuetze cap. Older style "Bullseye" two piece cockade. The Bullseye was used up until 1961 on officers headwear and as late as 1963 for enlisted men. Size 54, dated 1962. VEB 1855.
NVA marked Skimuetze cap, (A MdI marked Skimuetze cap is shown on the "Kampfgruppen" page. Same type of hat but this one is marked NVA and the other is MdI). Gabardine fabric, circular silver cockade. Size 56 and dated "I/C" (1st quarter 1983).
NVA Rain Pattern baseball-style cap. Textile circular cockade. Size 2-medium, dated "N" (1989).
NVA baseball style cap. The black outer covering on this hat is easily scraped off from the brown rubbery material underneath. Probably the Crappiest Cap ever made. If you should decide to buy one be sure to take a picture, the photo will out live the cap. Marked NVA III 1856 D (1990).


Female cap, gabardine fabric, two piece cockade. Silver piping. Size 53 and dated "L" (1973). (Note: the letter "L" was used for both 1973 and 1987.)
A: Non-career soldier side cap. Rank: Non-career EM's/NCO's. Wool fabric, textile circular cockade, no piping. Size  55 , and dated "E" (1980).
B:
C: Later issue Career soldier side cap. Gabardine fabric, textile circular cockade, no piping. Size  56 , and dated "P" (1986).
Cooks hat- Kochmutzen.
Cooks hat- Kochmutzen.  "made in East Germany" export tag sown on inside. Size 56.
Side caps for kitchen use. First one is dated "Y" (1988) size 54. Second is "P" (1986) size 55. Note the different weave of the material used in both caps.