Figure 1.--German boys in the 1960s generally dressed up in dark suits for their confirmations. A German reader sends this photograph of his Confirmation in 1968.

New suits were commonly purchased for confirmation through the 1980s. This was normally the practice for families that coukd afford to do so. This reflected both the solemnity of the occassion and the importance of the ceremony in a boy's like. By the 1990s wearing suits for confirmation became less common. This reflected a general trend in Germany and Europe away from forma; clothing, especially for boys. German boys would dress some what more casualy without a suit jacket with tie, white shirts and slacks. Some boys also wore vests to provide a somewhat dressy look.

The 1920s

Confirmation was a very important step in a boys life as late as the early 20th century. The boys in the available images look like young teenagers, often 13-14 years of age. Often boys or their families sent portraits to friends and family on the occassion of their Confirmation. We note a studio inactment of a Protestant confirmation we believe would have been sent about 1920. The pastor is saying, "Der Herr behüte Dich" (May God protect you from danger.) At the bottom of the card it says "Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Konfirmation!" (The best of wishes on your confirmation.) We note boys wearing regular suits, often dark suits. This was an expression of the formality and solemn nature of the event. A few boys wore sailor suits.

The 1930s

We have few details about Confirmation during the 1930s. We note an unidntified boy doing his confirmation about 1930. We note that the NAZIs seized power duuring the decade (1933). The NAZIs were hostile to religion, but we are not sure how NAZI rule affected Confirmation ceremonies in Germany. We do have one portrait suggestingthat some boys did their confirmation in Hitler Youth uniforms.

The 1940s

A HBC reader has provided us a photogrph of his Confirmation in 1949. Hans is a member of a large group photographed in fron of their Church. The girls all wear dark dresses. The boys all wear suits. Most are dark suiys, but there are a few lighht colored ones as well. Amost all the boys wear necktiesare bowries with a white lapel flower. A few boys wear open collar shirts. There are a lot more boys than girls. we are not sure why tht would be.

The 1950s

The Communidsts in East Germany launched a campaign to stamp out religion. Many families did abandon religion. Confirmation was such an established tradition that many families wanted to continue the tradition. Communist authories, as a result, instituted a secular ceremony for youths at the age that Confitmation is celebrated. This became known as " Jugendweihe ". I'm not sure when it was first inroduced, but it may have been the 1950s.

The 1960s

German boys in the 1960s generally dressed up in dark suits for their confirmations. Often a new suit was purchased for the occassion. A German reader Dieter who had his confirmation in 1968 writes "This is the photo of the whole confirmation group. You see. This is the picture of all the boys. I`m the boy in the first row at the right side (figure 1)."

The 1970s

We note many German boys in the 20th century doing their conformations in conservative black or other dark suits and dark neckties. We note one photograph of Germany boys in 1976 wearing rather tendy suits and jackets with slacks. We are not sure how common this was. Our archive of German images is still too limited to draw any firm conventions.

The 1980s

The 1990s

A German reader, Thomas, has provided us some details about his confirmation in 1996. Thomas tells us, "I remember the conflict that I had with my parents, because they were a little bit conservative and wanted me to wear a dark suit with a white shirt and black tie. At this time, it wasn`t modern and trendy for the youth, to wear a suit like that." Since unification there are now also inWest Germany some families and children who prefer a kind of non-religious „Jugendweihe“ in the style of the former DDR.

The 2000s

We have some information on German confirmations during the 2000s. We note one confirmation in Hannover during 2003. The boys and girls wear black suits. One boy wears a black short pants suit with kneesocks. As such suits were not commonly worn in Germany at the time, we suspect ghat this is the style the boy's father wore and he continued the famoly tradition. A German parent writes, "I`m 50 years old, come from Germany and I`m an interested user of your HBC website. First let me praise your good work. The site is very interesting. The last time I`m very interested in the confirmation sites, because my son Nils had his confirmation only 3 weeks ago. He`s 14 years old and my only child. I`m very glad that Nils is very interested in church and that he was pleased about his confirmation. I often talked with Nils about his confirmation and I told him about my own confirmation in 1968. Nils` confirmation ceremony was very nice and we made some photos. And now we look at these photos and compare them to the photos of my confirmation in 1968. In 1968 all boys were dressed in dark suits. This was the standard clothing. Today some boys don`t really interested in church and confirmation and do confirmation only because of the money presents. Besides many boys no longer dress up for this ceremony. For Nils it was no problem to dress up. He wears a black suit at his confirmation and realized the importance of this ceremony. You have to know that we are a very religious family and often go to church. In this situations it`s normaly for Nils to dress up, but otherwise he`s a normal teenager and wears the trendy casual clothes. I think like many other parents me and my wife often discus with Nils about wearing baggy trousers. I have to say...I hate these baggy trousers."

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Created: June 13, 2004
Last edited: 11:20 PM 9/4/2006