Figure 1.--This portrait is an Austrian boy, Josef Worda (figure 1). He was born about 1905 which means his portrait was taken about 1910. He was photographed in Insbruck. He wears an Alpine-style cap. |
|
Folk costumes are popular in Austria. We see boys and girls wearing them, both for special events and vestivals, but for regular wear as well. This is a subject we do not yet know much about. We have just begun to collect information on Austrian folk costumes, referred to as Tracht in German. There is no single Austrian folk outfit, although there were some similarities. We note regional differences within Austria. There are of course similarities with German folk costumes, especially areas of southern Germany such as Bavaria. There are also similarities with Switzerland, another Alpine area. We have fouind some individual and family portraits with the children dressed up in folk outfits. Hopefully an Austrian reader will provide some background information for us.
Folk costumes are popular in Austria. We see boys and girls wearing them, both for special events and vestivals, but for regular wear as well. There are several specific garments associated with folk wear which is called Tracht in German. There is a soft cap usually done in green felt, sometimnes worn with a feather. A jacket is often done in grey with green trim. An important item is Lederhosen worn with a decorated haltar. The Leferhosen are worn with half socks called Loferl/Pfosen or knee socks. The basic girl's garment is Drindl. Decoration on these garments varies regionally, but the basic garments are worn throughout the Alpine areas of Austria and Germany.
There is no single Austrian folk outfit, although there were some similarities. We note regional differences within Austria. These regional differences were notable in the 19th and even 20th century. We are not sure to what extent modern Austrians have maintained these regional styles. There are of course similarities with German folk costumes, especially areas of southern Germany such as Bavaria. There are also similarities with Switzerland, another Alpine area.
We have found some individual and family portraits with the children dressed up in folk outfits. Most seem to be costumes in which city children were dressed for nostalgic reasons. Portraits were rural villages where these outfits might still have been worn are much less common.
This portrait shows the boys wearing Austrian folk costumes. The hats in particular are very desinctive, although we do not know much about German/Austrian folk costumes to identify them. These two photographs were taken in Gablonz. The earlier one by the Ernst Muller studio. The later one by the A. Ullrich studio. I'm not sure where Gablonz is, but it appears to have been part of the old Austro-Hungaraian Empire. German reader tells us. "I research in my folk cosume books. The folk cosume worn by the Mahla brothers would seem to basically fit fit the "tracht" (costume) worn until the end of the 19th century in the area around Dachau (northeast of Muinch), Bavaria.
This boy wears a casic Alpine outfit. We are not sure when this style was first worn. This image shows that these jackets were being worn at the turn of the 20th century. We do not know who this boy is, but the portrait was taken in Vienna. We believe that it was taken in the 1900s. He wears a classic Alpine-style jacket and long leather lederhosen and kneesocks.
This is another Austrian boy dressed up in Alpine folk costume. The unidentified boy seems to be about 5 years old. The portrait is undated. We are not sure about the date, perhaps the early-1950s. This is a younger boy whose mother did him up in Tracht for a portrait. He looks to be quite proud of his national dress. There are a couple of anomalies from what we often see. His felt Alpine hat is a little oddly shaped. Rather than a jacket, he wears what looks like a hand-knitted cardigan sweater with accented breast pockets and matching collar, lapels, and cuffs. It may have been knitted by mother or grandmother. The short pants are made to look like Lederhosen, but look like they are cloth rather than leather. The sewn on patches are made to simukate Lederhosen, but may have been used for button to attach suspenders. We can not see this because of the cardigan. They have a traditional Austrian bone button for ornament at the sides. The heavily ribbed gray woolen long stockings are interesting also, replacing the more common knee socks for this sort of Alpine dress. The rubber boots (called Wellingtons in England) we don't understand--perhaps it was raining the day the portrait was taken. The vintage toy horse on wheels looks like a bit of an antique for the 1950s--perhaps a family object passed down to the boy, although it looks fairly new and may be a recreation of an older-style toy. The furniture (a rather formal chair with upholstered back and seat) looks as though it belongs in a fashionable, affluent family.
We have a portrait of Josef Worda (figure 1). He was born about 1905 which means his portrait was taken about 1910. He was photographed in Insbruck. He doesn't look very happy about having his photo taken. We hope that gun isn't loaded! Josef wears an Alpine cap. The jacket is very plain. There does not appear to be a great deal of folk styling, buth the jacket has some similaitywith an Alpine jacket. It is the Alpine cap that is the primary folk image. He is not wearing lederhosen; they look more like kneepants than kniebundlederhosen. They look to be made of the same material as the jacket, presumably loden.
Austria in the 19th century became a dual monarchy known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Gypsies were a part of the Austrian folk tradition. The gypsies are more associated with Hungary, but as part of the same country, they became an important part pf the Austrian folk tradition as well. The energetic gypsey folk tradition also influenced the music of Hungary and Austria. The gypsies were looked down on in Austria. We note post cards picturing children in gypsey dress, but have not noted parents have their children photographed in gypsey costumes. Even before the rise of Hitler, the public in Austria and police officials complained about gypsies. After the Anschluss, the NAZIs targeted Austrian gypsies for sterilization or extermination.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Austrian pages:
[Austrian catalogs]
[Austrian choirs]
[Austrian movies]
[Austrian school uniforms]
[Austrian youth groups]
[Lederhosen]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[Essays]
[FAQs]
[German glossary]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing national pages:
[Return to the Main Austrian page]
[Return to the Main ethnic country page]
[Australia]
[Belgium]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Ireland]
[Italy]
[Japan]
[Korea]
[Mexico]
[New Zealand]
[Scotland]
[United States]