Figure 1.--These German boys about 1920 wear wooden shoes. As thet appear to be on a beach, they probably lived along the coast east of the Netherlands. The patched clothing suggests that these boys came from a family of modest means.

Many German boys in the 19th century and well into the 20th century wore booy-like heavy shoes. Closed-toe sandals were worn in the early 20th century. Strap shoes might be worn by boys from afflient families. Sandals were laregely shunned under the NAZIs, although younger boys might still wear them. Adter World War II, boys began wearing open-toe sandals. Boys from working-class families in the 19th and early 20th century might wear wooden shoes, especially in northwestern Germany near the Netherlands. Gender is another important factor to consider when studying German footwear. we note German boys and girls wearing a wide range of footwear. These styles and the gender conventions associated with them have varied widely.

Chronology

HBC has little information on 19th-century footwear in Germany. Boys at the turn of the century might wear high-top shoes. Many boys wore boot-like high top shoes. Working class families might wear wooden shoes while boys from affluent families might wear strap shoes. After the turn of the century, especially after World War I (1914-18), increasingly wore low-cut shoes or a variety of closed toe sandals. The sturdy high-top shoes for boys, however, endured into the 1950s. I think some German mothers considered them healthtier for children as they offered more support. There may also have been class connotations as they appear to have been more of a wirking-class style. Hopefully our German readers will provide more information here. After World War II open-toe sandals appeared. Sneakers appear to have been less popular in Germany than in many other countries we have studied. We rarely see German boys wearing sneakers before World Wa II. I have never noted, for example, Hitler Youth boys wearing sneakers, except at sports in summer camps. Even after the War they were not common. We do not notice German boys extensively wearing sneakers until the 1970s.

Types

HBC has noted a variety of footwear worn by German boys. There have been significant variations overtime. We note a wide variety of shoes, sandals, boots and other footwear like clogs or wooden shoes. Many boys wore heavy boot-like shoes in the ealy 20th century. Working-class or farm children might wear wooden shoes. We do not notice clogs in the many images of school children. While German children wore rather heavy shoes in the early 20th century, after World War I (1914-18) we see children wearing closed toe sandals, especially in the Weimar Era. The English school sandal, the "T"-strap style, appears to have been popular. The NAZIs seem to have discouraged sandals, at least for school-age children. Low cut oxfords gradually replaced the high top-style, although both were worn, even n the 1940s. After world War II we see sandals becoming increasingly common, but the open-toe style and not the closed-toe style that had been popular earlier. Sneakers became popular in the 1970s as was the case in the rest of Europe.

Barefeet

Our information on going barefoot in Germany is very limited. Almost all of the information comes from an assessment of the photographic record. We note relatively few German children going barefoot, except in times of economic distress, especially after World War I and II. Generally speaking it was a sign of poverty. Thus we do see some children going barefoot in working-class neigborhoods. It was also more common in rural areas. It seems to have also been somewhat mlre common for boys than girls. Another factor was age. It was more common for younger children to go barefoot. We almost never seen children barefoot in formal portraits.

Gender

Gender is another important factor to consider when studying German footwear. we note German boys and girls wearing a wide range of footwear. These styles and the gender conventions associated with them have varied widely. Today boys and girls tend to wear destinctive footwear. This has not always beeen the case. At times it was very common for boys and girls, especially younger boys and girls to wear the same footwear styles. At other styles boys and girls wore very different footwear styles. The samne is true of the basic footwwae styles. This includes the various types of sandals as well as the dfferent types of shoes. Various aspects of footwear have been used to develop gender distinctions. This has include footwear type, styling, decoration, and color. We can examone most of these aspects, except for color befoe the 1970s. Here the black and white photography of the day makrs it very dofficult to assess color.

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Created: March 10, 1999
Last updated: 4:42 AM 1/23/2009