What is the esoteric or hashkafic significance of the shtreimel? Some things I have seen but without details or sources are that it is like a crown, that the number of pelts involved have numerical significance, and so on.
Sources are appreciated, and I am specifically not looking for answers that are limited to a practical basis, such as "Polish nobleman garb" or "decree that Jews should wear a tail on their heads". This question presupposes that there is in fact a deeper significance to it.