Tracht is a traditional
national costumeNational costume, , expresses an identity through costume which usually relates to a geographic area or a period of time in history, but can also indicate social, marital and/or religious status...
in German-speaking countries. Although the word is most often associated with
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
n and
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n
costumeThe term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
s, many other peoples of Germany have them. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in tracht.
The tracht of southern
GermansGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
and
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
has inspired an entirely new fashion style, called Landhausmode (
Country Estate Style). Landhausmode, influenced by the
costumeThe term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
s of the
farmerA farmer is a person who raises living organisms for food or raw materials.- Definition :The term farmer usually applies to a person who grows field crops, and/or manages orchards or vineyards, or raises livestock or poultry such as chicken and cows...
s,
peasantA peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground. The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists...
s and rural people, and characterized by the use of
linenLinen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
,
lodenLoden may refer to:*Water-resistant material for clothing made from sheep's wool. It is usually green and used in Austrian traditional clothing. See Loden cape.*A greyish green color typical of Bavarian loden garments .*Lois Roden...
(a traditional type of
feltFelt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any color, and made into any shape or size....
that has recently gained popularity worldwide) and
embroideryEmbroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
, is somewhat analogous to North American
Western WearWestern wear is a category of men's and women's clothing which derives its unique style from the clothes worn in the 19th-century American West....
, in that there is a relationship between Landhausmode and Alpenrock (a style of
rock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music....
influenced by traditional
AlpineThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
songs), just as there is a relationship between
Western WearWestern wear is a category of men's and women's clothing which derives its unique style from the clothes worn in the 19th-century American West....
and
Country MusicCountry music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains...
. It is also very common in
LiechtensteinThe Principality of Liechtenstein is a doubly landlocked alpine microstate in Western Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and by Austria to the east. Its area is just over 160 km² and it has an estimated population of 35,000...
.
In northern Germany some of the best known examples are the
"Friesische Tracht"The Frisians are an ethnic group of Germanic people living in coastal parts of The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...
and the
FinkenwerderFinkenwerder is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany in the borough Hamburg-Mitte. It is the location of a plant of Airbus and its airport...
Tracht. The "Friesische Tracht" is richly decorated with
beadA bead is a small, decorative object that is pierced for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under a millimeter to over a centimeter or sometimes several centimeters in diameter....
s and embroidery. The quality of the work was a sign of the riches and social status of the farmer's wife wearing it. In former times it was brought into a marriage by the bride as part of her
dowryA dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage. Compare bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both dowry...
. This costume is occasionally still worn at weddings. The "Finkenwerder Tracht" is the traditional costume of the inhabitants of an island in the Elbe river. It is worn by a local folklore group called Finkwarder Speeldeel. The long sleeved dark blue shirts with white stripes of the male costume are popular in Northern Germany for casual wear.
Visitors to the
Black ForestThe Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
region will be familiar with the wide brim hats decorated with big red pom poms that are part of a
Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine—but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River...
Tracht.
Displaced German peoples like the Sudetendeutsche often used events where they wore Tracht to emphasize their
unityThe Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft is an organization representing Sudeten German refugees from the Sudetenland. Most of them fled to West Germany from Czechoslovakia during the Expulsion of Germans after World War II....
.
Costumes worn by professional guilds are also called "Tracht". While many have fallen into disuse, carpenter journeymen can still be seen wearing their traditional costume while traveling throughout Europe.
External resources
Further reading
- Franz C. Lipp: Oberösterreichische Trachten, volumes 1 - 5.
- Hilde Seidl: Niederösterreichische Trachten. One of the most comprehensive works about Lower Austrian costumes.
- Christl Schäfer, Hannelore Rosenberger: Trachten aus und rund um Wien. Ein Werkbuch (mit Schnittmusterbogen). Leopold Stocker publishing house. ISBN 3-7020-0500-5