Biography: Joachim Siegerist (Germany, 1947- )


Figure 1.-- Joachim Siegerist has published an autobiography of his childhood years entitled "Leibchen und Strapse: Eine Kindheit aus Funfzigern--und einiges mehr" (Hamburg, 2005). The title of this book would be translated "Bodice and Garter Straps: A childhood from the 1950s and a little beyond", referring to the era of his childhood in the late 1940s and 1950s when schoolboys were often dressed in short trousers and long stockings. Notice te World war II damage.

Joachim Siegerist is a very controversial figure in modern Germany. He wrote an amusing account of his childhood. He was brought up in Schleswig-Holstein and served an unhappy teen-age apprenticeship as a typesetter in a German newspaper, which is supposedly how he began a career as a journalist. Very early on, he associated himself with German right-wing politics (he describes himself as a Christian conservative), and at one point emigrated to Latvia, a country in which he still has dual citizenship as a German with two passports.

Parents


Childhood

Joachim Siegerist was born (January 1947). He was brought up in Schleswig-Holstein. Recently he has published an autobiography of his childhood years entitled Leibchen und Strapse: Eine Kindheit aus Funfzigern--und einiges mehr (Hamburg, 2005). The title of this book would be translated "Bodice and Garter Straps: A childhood from the 1950s and a little beyond", referring to the era of his childhood in the late 1940s and 1950s when schoolboys were often dressed in short trousers and long stockings. The photograph of himself as a child appears in the book, and the cover also shows a line drawing of a German boy in Ledershosen and cross-bar halter wearing long stockings sheld up by supporters suspended from a Leibchen (or bodice). The biography is written in a humorous style but from a politically conservative stance and strongly anti-communist. He was born after the War, but as can be seen by the book cover, there was a huge amount of damage still to be seen when he was a boy. Kiel was a major target for Allied bombers because of the shipyards building U-boats.

Clothing

We see Joachim wearing Lederhosen with a cross-bar halter and long stockings. The long stocings were very common for German schoolboys at the time. The Lederhosen are interesting and show that they were no longer regional Bavarian costume, but being worn even in northern Germany. We can't see how the other boys in the class are dressed except for their chests, but one other boy is also wearing lederhosen with the traditional halter.

Education

We see a first grade class in Kiel, Germany, taken in 1953. The boy on the extreme left, standing, is Joachim. He was 6-years old at the time.

Journlism

He served an unhappy teen-age apprenticeship as a typesetter in a German newspaper, which is supposedly how he began a career as a journalist.

Politics

Siegerist is a very controversial figure in modern Germany. Very early on, he associated himself with German right-wing politics (he describes himself as a Christian conservative), and at one point emigrated to Latvia, a country in which he still has dual citizenship as a German with two passports. He ran for the premiership of Latvia and lost by a single vote. While in Latvia, he was charged in Germany with making racial slurs against Gypsies and is considered by enemies on the left to be an anti-Semite. His most famous book is a highly critical biography of Willy Brandt of Berlin. Siegerist writes in German, and although he holds Latvian citizenship in addition to German citizenship, he does not speak Latvian.





HBC






Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main Biographies S-Z page]
[Return to the Main Biographies page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries] [Essays]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossary] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Created: 8:27 PM 2/28/2009
Last updated: 2:33 AM 3/1/2009