Germany: Hessian traditional costumes

The State of Hesse has the largest number of different traditional costumes (24) of all 16 German federal states. . Although I live only 50 km from Hesse, I have only managed to get a few dolls showing the traditional costumes from this state. A wonderful internet site run by the Hessian Traditional Costume Society (Hessischer Trachtenverband) is a goldmine of information, which I have translated to provide the overview and pictures below.

Originally, these costumes were just thought of as clothing by their wearers and were only considered as ‘traditional costumes’ in more recent times. The oldest forms such as the Bergwinkeltracht (Bergwinkel is a region around the town of Schlüchtern in the county of Main-Kinzig-Kreis in East Hesse; see Figure 3) came into fashion after the German Peasants’ War (1524 to 1525), while others developed in the following centuries.  The heyday of traditional costumes was at the beginning of the last century (1990—1930). The effects of industrialisation and modernisation on traditional clothing meant that these styles of dress started to go out of fashion in the 19^th century, though wearers of such clothing were still around in the 20^th century or even more recently (the last true wearer of the Hüttenberg costume died in August 2011). Usually the men stopped wearing traditional clothes first, followed by the women; their clothing taking on the modern styles worn in the towns. The various forms of traditional costume reflected the wealth of the region, the occupation (farmer or townsperson) or even the religion of the wearer (Protestant or Catholic). In some areas due to intermarriage between people from neighbouring villages, the traditional costumes became more uniform due to adaptions made so that a person marrying into a particular village did not stand out too much.

1. Amt Biedenkopf

2. Amt Blankenstein

3. Bergwinkel

4. Bunstruth

5. Buseck

6. Edertal

7. Grund Breidenbach Obergericht

8. Grund Breidenbach Untergericht

9. Hersfeld

10. Hüttenberg

11. Ländchen

12. Lauterbach

13. Lower Hessian Spitzbetzel (pointed hat worn by the woman) costume

14. Marburg Protestant costume

15. Marburg Catholic costume

16. Odenwald

17. Rauschenberg

18. Rhön

19. Rotenburg

20. Schlitzerland

21. Schönstein

22. Schwälm

23. Schweinsberg

24. Watzenborn

References

https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten

Pictures

1. Amt Biedenkopf – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/tracht-des-amtes-biedenkopf
2. Amt Blankenstein – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/tracht-des-amtes-blankenstein
3. Bergwinkel – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/bergwinkel-tracht
4. Bunstruth – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/bunstruther-tracht
5. Buseck – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/busecker-tracht
6. Edertal – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/edertal-tracht
7. Grund Breidenbach Obergericht – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/tracht-des-breidenbacher-grundes-obergericht
8. Grund Breidenbach Untergericht – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/tracht-des-breidenbacher-grundes-untergericht
9. Hersfeld – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/hersfelder-tracht
10. Hüttenberg – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/huttenberger-tracht
11. Ländchen – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/landchestracht
12. Lauterbach – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/lauterbacher-tracht
13. Lower Hessian Spitzbetzel (pointed hat) costume – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/niederhessische-spitzbetzeltracht
14. Marburg Protestant costume – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/marburger-evangelische-tracht
15. Marburg Catholic costume – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/marburger-katholische-tracht
16. Odenwald – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/odenwalder-tracht
17. Rauschenberg – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/rauschenberger-tracht
18. Rhön – http://static.twoday.net/volkstanzgemuenden/layouts/volkstanzgemuenden/header.jpg
19. Rotenburg – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/rotenburger-tracht#Fotogalerie
20. Schlitzerland – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/schlitzer-tracht
21. Schönstein – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/schonsteiner-tracht
22. Schwälm – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/schwalmer-tracht
23. Schweinsberg – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/schweinsberger-tracht
24. Watzenborn – https://trachtenland-hessen.de/trachten/watzenborner-tracht

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