Figure 1.--Here we see five brothers in front of their hime in Upper Bavaria. The contributor suggests the 1920s, but it could be the 1930s. They are all dressed alike wearing checkered jackets and Lederhosen woth bare feet. |
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Outside of Germany, Lederhosen are commonly seen as a German style. Actually they are a regional style. Thet developed as the folk costume of (mountanous regions) of Bavaria and neighboring Austria. Upper Bavaria was especially imprtant. The term Upper Bavaria relates to the relative locatio on on the Danube and its tributaries: downstream, Upper Bavaria is followed by Lower Bavaria, then Upper Austria, and then Lower Austria. These areas overlap with Tyrol, another area where Lederhosen were worn. We are not sure, however, Iabout the relative importance. A German reader remembers a celebration of the birthday of König Ludwig II (Mad King Ludwig) of Bavaria who built picturesque fairy tale castles. On that event all men and boys (and of course the women and girls, too) wore the folk Tracht. It was a solemn and somehow sinister moment, as all participants were rather grave. They had brought torches with them and the band played the Bavarian hymn. (I believe, all Bundesländer, German states, have their own hymn.) We are not sure why Lederhosen developed in Alpine regions. We susopect it was the material that was readily availabke to peasabtry. Before the Industrial Revolution, clothing was very expensive in relative terms. As leather was a material the peasantry had, and would last far longer than pants made of other material. Alpine regions were not the only regions where leather was used for clothing. In North America, both Native Americans and frontiersmen used leather. Leather is an expensive mterial, but in areas where people have asccess to animals it is something they could use for clothes they could make themselves and thus possiby less expensive than buying clothes.
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