German Boys' Clothes: The Weimar Republic--(1919-33)


Figure 1.--This snapshot was taken of a German boy in 1931. He wears a suit with an open collar and rather long shorts. Notice the severe hair cut and peaked cap. Also note that the boy wears a shield or dickie under his shirt and jacket--similar to the dickies commonly worn with sailor suits. I suspect this style was worn to cover his undershirt (vest). By the 1940s or maybe earlier, seeing an undershirt was not considered a big deal.

German boys' fashions changed significantly as was the case in other European countries. Sailor suits continued to be widely worn, but not as commonly in the early 20th century. The rather formal styles before World War I gave way to more casual styles. Sailor caps were still common in the 1920s. We also note another military-syle cap that looks like a peaked army cap. Both styles disappeared very rapidly in the 1930s after the NAZIs seized power. Shirts were worn with wide open collars, a style very popular in the 1920s and 30s. Boys attire changed from kneepants to short pants in the 1920s. Boys especially in the 1920s commonly wore long over-the-knee stockings, both for warmth and formal occassions. A good view of formal boys attire can be seen by looking at the outfits Catholic boys wore for their First Communion. Kneesocks were, however, becoming more common. The shorts tended to be realatevly long in the 1920s and even into the early 30s when the Weimar Republic was seized by the NAZIs. At the same time kneesocks conntinued to be very common. Many boys wore sandals. In some case single bar strap shoes, but English style "T"-strap sandals were also common. Many German boy still had very short even cropped hair cuts in the 1920s.

Historical Background

The Weimar Reoublic is a fascinatinh period in German history. It is a democratic interlude betweem the authoritarian Imperial regime and the totalitarian NAZI Third Reich. There were democratic elections and a parliament (the Reichtag) relatively free press in Imperial Germany, although real power lay with the kaiser and his chancellor. Even so, Germany did have some democratic institutions to build upon. Yet we know that democratic institutions failed in Germany. The history of the period is thus very instrucrive to our modern times. The Weimar Republic was a rivch period of culural flowering. It was also an era in which democracy failed and the NAZIs rose.

Styles

German boys' fashions changed significantly as was the case in other European countries. Sailor suits continued to be widely worn, but not as commonly in the early 20th century. The rather formal styles before World War I gave way to more casual styles.

Garments

Sailor caps were still common in the 1920s, bit not as common as before the War. various styles of flat caps were worn. We also note another military-syle cap that looks like a peaked army cap. Both styles disappeared very rapidly in the 1930s after the NAZIs seized power. Shirts were worn with wide open collars, a style very popular in the 1920s and 30s. Boys attire changed from kneepants to short pants in the 1920s. Boys especially in the 1920s commonly wore long over-the-knee stockings, both for warmth and formal occassions. Kneesocks were, however, becoming more common. The shorts tended to be realatevly long in the 1920s and even into the early 30s when the Weimar Republic was seized by the NAZIs. At the same time kneesocks conntinued to be very common. Many boys wore sandals. In some case single bar strap shoes, but English style "T"-strap sandals were also common. Long stockings were still common, especially in the winter. More and more boys, however, began to wear socks.

Religion

Religion was still an important part of German life in the Weimar Republic. A good view of formal boys attire can be seen by looking at the outfits Catholic boys wore for their First Communion. Later religion in Germany was eakened as it was essentially attacked by the NAZIs.

School

Some of the most appealing snapshots and portraits taken during the 1920s were the obligatory photograph taken on a child's first day of school. The children are scrubbed clean, their hair combed and dressed in sturdy new school clothes. Thus these imnages represent a wonderful recird of what boys and girls were wearung at about 6 years of age. All are tightly holding onto their gift cones to get them interested in this important step in their lives. The practice declined during the NAZI-era, especially after the War began.

Hair Styles

Many German boy still had very short even cropped hair cuts in the 1920s. The severe cropped haircuts were not as pervasive as before World War I, but were still relatively common, especially for younger boys. Older boys after entering school or a few years of school increasingly had hair cuts that left enough hair that could be combed. Here social class seems to have been a factor. Boys from more affluent families were less likely to have cropped hair. There were also regional factors. I believed the crop hair was more common in Prussia than othercareas of Germany.

Documentary Film

One of the most famous German silent films was "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City" released in 1927. It contains wonderful images from an entire day in Berlin in 1927 and includes several interesting details of boys' clothes. The first scene shows two boys entering their school for classes in the morning carrying bookbags. One boy wears a flat cap, a belted jacket, knee pants, and long black stockings. The second photograph is a Berlin street scene showing a boy of about 14 wearing a cardigan sweater buttoned all the way up to his neck. He also wear knee pants and long black stockings.







HBC






Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing German pages:
[Return to the Main German inter-war chronology page]
[German art] [German catalogs] [German movies] [German royalty] [German school uniforms] [German youth groups]
[German sailor suits] [Lederhosen] [Ethnic] [Tights] [Long stockings]



Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [German glossary] [Images] [Links] [RegistrationTools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Created: December 18, 2002
Last updated: 3:06 PM 7/13/2004