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We are unsure about the age conventions associate with kneepants in Germany. They do appear to have varied over time. We notice boys as young as about 2-years of age wearing them. An example of a 2-year old is an unidentified boy. An example of a 3-year old is Fritzle in a 1879. German boys may have worn kneepants earlier than some boys in other countries because they seemed to have been breeched earlier. Long pants seem quite common in Grmany duting the late 19th century, but knee pants by the 1890s were increasingly common for boys. Most of the images we have found show primary school-age boys and younger teenagers wearing them. We note older teen agers wearing them as well. We are not sure, however that this was as common in Germany as it was in America.
We notice boys as young as about 2-years of age wearing them. An example of a 2-year old is an unidentified boy.
An example of a 3-year old is Fritzle in a 1879. German boys may have worn kneepants earlier than some boys in other countries because they seemed to have been breeched earlier.
Most 5 year olds through the 1910s common wore knee pants. The boy seen here is a good example (figure 1).
Long pants seem quite common in Grmany duting the late 19th century, but knee pants by the 1890s were increasingly common for boys. Most of the images we have found show primary school-age boys and younger teenagers wearing them. Most German boys begin school at age 6 years. Many of the images we have found of boys on their first day of school during the late 19th and early 20th century show boys wearing knee pants to school for their first day. They were worn with quite a variety of different outfits. Most boys during this period wore knee pants with long stockings.
A German catalog (1935) shows an older boy (about 13) wearing a formal knee pants suit to church. Note the ornamental
buttons at the hem of his trousers. Many parents bought their sons new suits for their confirmation at age 13. Many of these suits were knee pants suits. This was the case even in the 1930s when knee pants were no longer commonly worn. Knee pants seems to have been perceived as more formal than short pzants and thus more appropriate for church events.
Older German boys wore long pants through most of the 19th century. We are mot entirely sure just when older boys began wearing kneepants. Nor or we sure how common it was. But we do note some older German boys wearing kneepants in the early 20th century. And we note it even after World War I into the 1920s. We note older German teen agers wearing kneepants in the early 20th century. We note boys at St. Stephen's Gymnasium, where we see I think two boys in one of the upper forms (about 17, I think) wearing knee pants. We are not sure, however that this was as common in Germany as it was in America. After the early 20s we no longer commonly notice it as knee pants declined in popularity. Most boys by age 17 wore either knickers or long pants.
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