Figure 1.--A historic tradition in Germany was for children from poor families who were students or choristers to go from home to home in their districts singing hynns. The people would given them a few coins. We note a photograph from Germany, probably in the early 1930s. We see a group of German boy singers in traditional cloaks singinging in the Berlin suburbs. The portrait is undated, but looks to have been taken in the early 1930s. Click on the image to see the children lestening to them.

A historic tradition in Germany was for children from poor families who were students or choristers to go from home to home in their districts singing hynns. The children would given them a few coins. They were called Kurrende singers. We have little information on this, including the chronology of this tradition. It seems to have been a tradition in England and other countries as well. We note a photograph from Germany, probably in the early 1930s. We see a group of German boy singers in traditional cloaks singinging in the Berlin suburbs. The portrait is undated, but looks to have been taken in the early 1930s. The photograph was taken in Steglitz, a Berlin suburb. We note a similar Kurrunde choir in Eisenach about 1930. Given the propsperity in Germany, this custom has declined, but has not disappeared.

Medieval Tradition

A historic tradition in Germany was for children from poor families who were students or choristers to go from home to home in their districts singing hynns. The children, always boys, would given them a few coins. They were called Kurrende singers. We have little information on this, including the precise chronology of this tradition. The word comes from the Latin currere: walking or going. Thus it appears to pre-date the Reformation.

The Boys

The Kurrende boys usually came from poor families.

Countries

It seems to have been a medieval tradition throughout England and other countries as well.

Religious Faiths

They not only sang in the protestant churches, but they were invited at weddings and funerals as well.

Costume

We are not sure how the medieval Kurrunde choir boys were dressed. By the 20th century there was a kind of standard costume. The boys were dressed in black capes and wore flat black hats.

Individual Choirs

We note a photograph from Germany, probably in the early 1930s. We see a group of German boy singers in traditional cloaks singinging in the Berlin suburbs. The portrait is undated, but looks to have been taken in the early 1930s. The photograph was taken in Steglitz, a Berlin suburb. We note a similar Kurrunde choir in Eisenach about 1930. A famous one is the Wuppertaler Kurrende.

Modern Status

Given the propsperity in Germany, this custom has declined, but has not disappeared. The boys are no longer recruited from poor families. And we assume girls now participate. In the Lutheran parts of Germany they still cultivate the Kurrende tradition.Catholic areas have something similar: the Sternsinger (star singers).