|
This is a school photo taken in Haag, near Windpassing, in Bavaria. This is a little confusing because there are several Windpassings located in neigboring regions of Bavaria and Upper Austria. The photo was taken in 1950. Haag is a village about four kilometers from Hemau in the Upper Palatinate, in Bavaria. It belongs to Landkreis Regensburg. The boys here wear various shirts and jackers. Almost all are barefoot. One boys wears knee socks and shoes. The rest of the boys here are barefoot, at least the youngr boys in the front row. We are not sure about the girls who are behind the boys. This is a little surprising as by 1950 the West German economy had begun to recover and most images we have found of German schools during the 1950s, even the early-50s, show the boys wearing shoes. We see Austrian school children commonly barefott in the 50s, but this was less common in Germany. Perhaps Bavaria was a little different. We are guessing that Haag was an agricultural area were children commonly went barefoot as was the case in rural Austria.
This German school photo was undated, but we think was taken some time from the late-1940s to the mid-1950s. It is a primary class of children of who look to be about 10-years old. Most of the boys wear short trousers, many with haltars or H-bar attachments. Most of the children wear brown or dark tan long stockings, both boys and girls. There may also be some tights, but we are not positive about that. Several children wear knee socks. It looks like the temperature is gettiung cool, many children have sweaters. During the Winter probably more children wore long stockings. We are not sure if this is East or West Germany. We suspect it was West Germany because the children seem well dressed, but differenceces between the East and West only began to diverge significantly in the early-1950s.
We do not know the name of this German primary school, but we know that the class portrait was taken in 1951 which we can see from the boy in the front row holding the class plackard. These children seem to be about 8 or perhaps 9 years old (3rd or 4th year). Notice the variety of hosiery and trousers worn by the boys. Most of the boys wear short trousers with long stockings, but a few wear knee socks. One boy wears very long plus-fours with either knee socks or long stockings underneath. The season seems to be either spring or early autumn because we can see leaves on a tree through the opening in the rear. We would guess Spring because of the way the children are dressed. While we are unsure about the season, it is clear that while the weatgher is not real cold, it must be a little chilly as the boys are wearing sweaters. The boy holding the plackard wears tan long stockings. The boy standing next to him wears either a lighter tan or beige stockings. These boys would all be wearing Strapsleibchen, probably with four garter straps and commercial hose supporters. This is fairly reasonable guess because of the date (1951) and also because the stockings are very smoothly and tautly held in place. Notice the sweaters. One boy wears suspenders for his short trousers over (rather than under) his sweater.
This is an all-boys' class and presumably school at Ruckerg Primary School in 1951. It is a 2nd year class. We are unsure just where Ruckerg is located. These single gender schools were common before the War. They were mostly integrated during the 1950s. Note the lady teacher. That was another major chabnge in German schools after the War. A certain variety in the boys' clothes is observable here. One boy in the back wears a Bavarian jacket (note the different colored lapels). Several boys wear similar Bavarian jackets, but without lapels. Over boys wear jackets or sweaters. We see several halters or H-bar shorts. Nearly all the boys wear short pants. We also see knickers. The boy in the back row with the Bavarian jscket wears long pants. Most of the boys wear knee socks, but in a few cases long stockings.
Here we see another unidentified German primary school. Unfortunately we do not know where it was located or even if it was in East or West Germany. It looks to be a class of 7-year old boys which would mean second year students. While that is only a guess, we do know that the portrait was taken in 1954. Many German schools in the 1950s were still segregated by gender in the 1950s. You can see long pants beginning to be worn by younger boys which was not very common in the 40s. Long stockings are still quite common, at least in chilly weather. Most of the boys wear long stockings with short trousers, but a few wear long trousers, and one boy is wearing shorts with knee socks. The long stockings seem to be cotton and vary in color from brown to tan to beige.
Here we see the Kafertal Primary School in 1955. It looks to be the children at recess. Kafertal is a neigborhood in Mannheim. Mannheem is a city in the southwestern Germany, the third-largest in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. The city is at the center of the larger densely populated Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region. Mannheim was an important industrial city and thus targetted in the World War II Allied air campaign. The first major raid occurred during the battle of Britain in rtaliation for the German Blitz on British cities. The school unlike many schools in industrial cities apparently survived the War. The photograph was taken 10-years after the War.
We have no information on this school except that the class portrait was taken in 1955. The children do not wear very trendy clothes. We would guess this maeans that their school was located in a small town. Presumably the building in the background is their school. It doesn't look like a school, but the building seems to have a Bavarian look. The children look about 11-12 years old. This wasa Catholic school which had a full term program. Note that the boys no longer wear suit jackets that were still common before World War II. The boys wear sweaters with short pants, knickers, and long pants. Only one boy eaes knickers, the others boys wear either short or long pants. Several of the boys wear long stockings. Here I am not sure about the coloes. The girls wear dresses, most of them with pinafores.
We do not know the name of this German school or even where it was located (figure 1). We do know that the class portrit was taken in 1955. The children are in their 3rd year of primary school, i.e., about 8 years old. We see a mixture of baggy ski pants for some of the boys and long stockings with shorts for the others. Notice the boy in the front row on the extreme left, who is wearing quite briefly cut shorts that expose the clasps of his supporters (of the modern loop and rubber
button commerical type) attached to a Strapsleibchen (two garters on each leg). The colors of the stockings seem to be dark brown or black rather than beige. Notice that many of the boys wear halters with their trousers with the cross strap on the chest. This seems to be a very middle-class group of children.
We note teachers taking children to recess at the Neubrandenburg Schule in Germany (1955). It looks like a new building, perhaps built after the War. The school included a kindergarten. It seems to be a mixed school with both boys and girls. Long pants began to become more common, even for vyounger boys during the 1950s. Some of the boys are wearing short trousers with long stockings while quite a few wear long trousers. Probably 5 years earlier virtually all these boys would have been wearing short pahrs, even durung the winter. The teachers wear white aprons. I suspect that they were carers for the kindergarten and younger children. Brandenburg is in eastern Germany.
This is an interesting photograph of some of the children from a German primary class in 1955. Notice the goody
cones. They were by the 1950s a well established German tradition for the children starting school. The mixed class of boys and girls together, and the use of long stockings (on the two boys in the front row). Some of the other boys wear long baggy ski-type pants, perhaps with long stockings underneath. But I think the ski-pants had become an alternative for schoolboys during the chilly months. The two boys in the front row wear brown long stockings with a Strapsleibchen (four garters with commercial loop and rubber button clasps as opposed to the earlier elastic tape garters
with graduated button-holes that fastened to buttons sewn onto the top of the stockings by mothers). Long stockings were becoming less common by 1955, but they were still being worn.
This unidentified German class photo was dated 1957. Unfortunately we do not know the name of the school oe where it ws located. The background suggests a small village school. Two of the boys are wearing long trousers, but most wear short pants with long stockings. This is about thre time tights began to appear in Germany, but the looseness of the fit suggests long stockings. Notice the different shades. We believe they are most likely various tan, beige, and dark brown stockings. One boy wears three-quarter socks pulled up. At least two of the boys wear lederhosen with long stockings. One point worthy of note is the backpacks for books that the children are carrying. They can't be seen, but the straps on top of the sweaters show thatthey are wearing them.
HBC has found some information on the Deutsche Schule Bukarest from the late 1950s throught the 60s. It appears to be a school for East Germans living in Romania. There were German-speaking Romanians, but these appear to be Germans temporarily living in Romania. We get to follow one class as they go through the school. So we not only to see the different styles for the various age groups, but also how school fashion was changing. The children wear light-colored shirts and Pioneer kerchiefs. Most of the boys began school wearing suspender short pants and finish school weaing long pants.
Here we have another unidentifed German schoo portrait. The portrait is undated, but looks to hsave bern taken in the late-2950s. The children look to be about 8-year olds which would mean 3rd year students. It was a mixed class of both boys and girls. The building in the bsackground suggests it was a good sized city school. Quite a few chldren wear striped "T"-shorts suggest that the portrait was taken in the spring after the tempersatures had begun to warm up. All the boys wear short psnts, many with H-bar haltars. Most of the boys seem to be wearing ankle socks.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main Chronology Page]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
[The 1920s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
Navigate the German school pages
[Return to the Main German 1950s individual school chronology page]
[Return to the Main German 20th century individual school chronology page]
[Return to the Main German individual school chronology page]
[Return to the Main German school uniform page]
[Imperial Germany]
[Weimar Republic]
[NAZI era]
[Post-war Years]
[Modern Germany]
[Return to the Main school uniform page]
[Return to the Main school uniform national page]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing School Uniform Pages
[Main School Uniform Page]
[Australia]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Italy]
[Japan]
[New Zealand]
[Scotland]
[United States]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[About Us]
[Activities]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Debate]
[Economics]
[Garment]
[Gender]
[Hair]
[History]
[Home trends]
[Literary characters]
[School types]
[Significance]
[Transport and travel
[Uniform regulations]
[Year level]
[Other topics]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Return to the Historic Boys' School Home]
