Figure 1.--This German boy was photographed in 1932. Note the candel he carries with a fake flame. Many German boys were photographed with these candels. The old fashioned wing collar and long stockings help to date the portrait to the 1920s or early 1930s. After the NAZI take over in 1933, long stockings became less common. A caption at the top of the card read, "Heartfelt blessed wishes to (your) first holy communion". (Herzlichen Segenswunsch zur ersten heiligen Kommunion.) Image courtesy of the MD collection. Click on the image to see the back of the card.

The pages here show what outfits German boys wore for First Communions in the 1930s and how the boys dressed for formal occassions. We note a range of outfits. Dark suits were common. Some boys wore sailor suits. We notice both white and dark sailor suits. We note a mix of old fashioned and more modern styles. The old fashioned suits and sailor suits seem more commom before the NAZIs seized power and esctablished their control over the country.

1930 Boy

This unidentified Germany boy had his First Communion portait taken in 1930. He wears a short pants white sailor suit with white long stockings and sandals.Sailor suits were very popular for German boys, but the popularity had begun to decline by the 1930s. We seem to note more French boys wearing sailor suits for First Communion.

1930 Boy

The 1930s was a transitional period. We see many boys wearing destinctively old fashioned suit styles and others wearing rather modern styles. This boy, for example, wears a rather old-fashioned collar and tie with his First Communion suit. He wears a dark suit with a vest. And like many German boys has a long candle. He is not identified, but we know he was from Siegen.

1932 Boys

A HBC reader has provided us six wonderful postcards of German boys in their First Communion suits. Te cards were all mailed in 1932, but the photographs on them look more like styles worn in the 1910s or perhaps early 1920s. These appear to be commercial cards sold rather like greeting cards which explain the older fashions. It is interesting to note the similarities and differences among the suits the boys wear. The boys mostly wear old fashioned wing collars. One boy wears a sailor suit. The boys except for one wear short pants suits. All of the boys with short pants wear dark long stockings, although kneesocks had become much more common for boys this age. The boys look about 12-14 years old. The long stockings are not worn for warmth, but here appear to be considered more formal and appropriate for church than kneesocks. These photographs show not only what boys wore to their First Communions at the time, but a German boy's best dress suit in 1932. These were clearly not suits bought just for Fiorst Communion, but rather suits that were meant to be worn for best. We note none of the boys wear white gloves. French boys at this time commonly did wear white gloves for First Communion.

First Boy

This boy wears a sailor suit. It is a very plain dark suit, presumably blue, without any white stripe detailing. Our sampling is too small to be sure, but it looks like German boys this age were wearing sailor suits less commonly for dressing up. This especially became true after 1933 when the NAZIs took power. They appear to have viewed the sailor suit suit as an outfit for younger boys. I'm not positive why this was, but it mass reflect social class connotations for several styles. Many NAZIs came from working-class or lower middle class back grounds. The sailor suit, a favorite of rotalty, made have been especially popular with more affluent Germans. This boy looks slightly younger than the other boys, but perhaps that os because he is wearing a sailor suit.

Second Boy

The second boy has a very short hair cut with a right part. He has a lapel-less jacket which buttons at the collar with large buttons. There is np neckwear. I am not sure that he os wearing a white shirt, it may be a button-pn collar. I do not see any short cuffs. He appears to be wearing kneepants, but they do not have the normal three-button hem trim. He wears dark long over-the-knee stockings with old fashioned looking high top shoes. The outfit rather suggests to HBC that this boy came from a less affluent family than some of the other boys wearing more fashionable suits for their First Communions.

Third Boy

This boy is the only one in the group wearing a long pants suit. It is an elegant looking suit double-breasted suit which he is probably wearing for the first time for his First Communuion. He has the same white wing collar that many of the other boys wear.His shoes look more modern, but are still high tops. He is posed in a poor pious way than the others boys, knealing down.

Fourth Boy

The fourth boy also has a short hair cut. While short, it is not cropped and there is enough to comb. He has a left part. He wears a dark double-breasted jacket with wide lapels. He wears a white shirt with a wing collar and what looks like a kind of bow tie. He appears to be wearing very long short pants as I do not see the three buttons at the hem generally associated with kneepants. appears to be wearing kneepants, but they do not have the normal three-button hem trim. The pants are quite long, extending well over his knee. He wears dark long over-the-knee stockings with old fashioned looking high-top shoes. He has a white handkerchief in his breast pocket.

Fifth Boy

This boy wears a dark single-breasted suit with the buttons on the jacket set very high (figure 1). He wears a rather old-fashioned looking wing collar. I'm not sure how to describe the neckwear, it does not look like either a tie or bow. He has short pants are rather long, but smartly creased. He wears his shorts with long over-the-knee stockings and sturdy looking high-top shoes. The shoes look brand new. The card is addressed to "An Adolf Fecher, Offenburg Main Humboldstr." On the left the message is "Sendet Familie Siegel". So the address is: "To Adolf Fecher, Offenburg Main (that means the city of Offenburg on the river Main), Humboldstreet". On the left: "Sent by the Siegel Family". This unlike the other cards was not sent by a neighbor. It was sent from Seligenstadt in Hessen (Hess).

Sixth Boy

This boy wears a dark double-breasted suit with fashionable wide lapels. He wears a rather old-fashioned looking wing collar. I'm not sure how to describe the neckwear, it does not look like either a tie or bow. He has short pants are rather long, but smartly creased. He wears his shorts with long over-the-knee stockings and unlike the other boys seeen here, low-cut oxford-style shoes which look brand new.

Life in Frankfurt

Walter Natt, the son of a Jewish doctor, has written a fascinating article about life in Frankfurt. They even lived for a time on Huumboldstrasse where Adolf Fecher and his parents lived at the same time. Natt reports that before the NAZIs that the he got along fine with the other boys. He joined the Zionist youth movement in the late 1920s. He attended the Musterschule and managed to pass the "Abitur" examination. By this time in the middle of 1934, he was the only Jew among about l,000 students.

1932 Post Cards

HBC is not yet positive how to interpre these cards. HBC had assumed that these prints were individual studio prints that a family had made of their son and printed on postcards so that they could be sent to friends and relatives. There is, however, another explanation. They could be commercially printed. The source of the postcards tells us that they were definitely lithographically produced (like most published cards) and are not real photos. They are very well done though. This means that they almost certainly would be commercially produced cards.

Individual family cards

In the case of the 1932 portcard images, we only know when the cards were mailed. We thought at first that these were Fiorst Communion photographs that friends were exchanging with each other. We know that parents used to have copies of prints taken at professional photographers printed on postcards so they could be sent to friends and relatives. That could be what these 1932 images are. We thought that these parents bought multiple copies of these portraits on post cards for friends and relatives, such as graduation cards today. Presumably the boys themselves exchanged their First Communion portraits with each other. The images are photo postcards, several of which were sent to the same boy and are post marked in 1932. They were all posted on the same date, April 2, 1932--except for one card which has no postmark. Perhaps this one was from a neighbour or relative who lived close by. Of the others, only one does not carry a local postmark -ie Offenbach am Main near Frankfurt. I think the cards were all sent to the same boy who was probably called Wolf Fecher and lived in Humboldstrasse, one is addressed to Familie Josef Fecher who was perhaps the father. Several cards have Adolf as the Christian name. We have since learned, however, that these are printed lithograaphic prints sold commercially.

Commercial cards

A British reader has a different interpretation of thse cards. "I think HBC is mistaken in surmising that these photos are communion pictures that friends have shared with each other. They are in fact published cards that would have been purchased from a shop, just as we would purchase a birthday card for someone today from Hallmark etc. Each of these cards would have been from a set of 6 showing the same boy in slightly different poses. Each card has a series number printed on the front with a suffix indicating the number of that card within that series--this was a common practice for postcards almost from their inception and one of the reasons they were collected so avidly. I've yet to see any cards like this that were printed and used in the UK but then I don't believe we have ever taken first communion or confirmation that seriously." The source of the postcards tells us that they were definitely lithographically produced (like most published cards) and are not real photos. They are very well done though. This means that they almost certainly would be commercially produced cards.

1930s Boy: Hans Buttner

Hans Buttner looks to be about 10-11 years old. That is a littlec older thanm the usual age for first communion in the Catholic Church. This has varied from country to country and over time. American children commonly do First Communion in the second grade (about age 7 years) and German children in their third year of school (about 8 years old). Apparently his parents for some reason waited several years before enrolling him in the local group of Catholic children in Ashaffenburg, Bavaria, where the picture seems to have been taken. There was no precise age for First Communion. His outfit is entirely traditional--a black suit with short trousers, white shirt and tie (or sometimes an open collar), and black long stockings. German children commonly wore long sgtockings in the 1930s. Black stockings were commonly worn for formal occassions. Notice the large candle which were commonly given to the communicants in Germany. The portrait is not dated, but we would guess some time in the 1930s.

1935 Boy

This image is undated, but we estimate that it was taken in 1935. It gives a good idea as to what was happening in Germany during the 1930s. When viewing this image, note that it would have been very unusual for an American, British, or French boy to have his First Commununion Portrait taken in his Boy Scout uniform. (We are less sure about Italy, but again do not think boys wore their Balial uniforms for First Communion.) This shows how boys were beginning to give precedence to the Hitler Youth and NAZI Party organizations than their Church.

1939 Children

Here are two photos taken in 1939, showing children doing the First Communion. One photo shows the procession to St. Martin's Church in Stuttgart for the First Communion service. The girls are of course in white, while the boys are in dark short trouser suits with black long stockings. The paper also singled out one boy (with curious hair) wearing the first communion uniform. The caption says that the boys complained about having to wear woolen long stockings with a Strapsleibchen and garters to hold them up because the stockings scratched their thighs unmercifully. Of course they had to put up with the discomfort. I believe it was a fairly warm day in Stuttgart. This photo was taken just on the even of World War II in Germany. The Stuttgarter Zeitung was the major newspaper, which had made a lot of its historical photos available.

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Created: June 9, 2002
Last edited: 8:08 PM 1/27/2012