Figure 1.--This image shows Ernst and Wilhelm Mahla in 1894. They wear traditional sailor suits, but with beret-like tams that have poms. Photo supplied courtesy of the MD collection.

Ernst and Wilhelm Mahla (Austria, 1890s)

We have two images of the Mahla brothers. We initially thought that they were German boys, but we have since learned that they are Austrian boys. Their names are Wilhelm and Ernst Mahla. Wilhelm was born on September 29, 1888 and Ernst January 12, 1890. The earlier photo of them was taken on April 15, 1894, the later one is undated. The first photo shows the boys weaing matching sailor suits. The second portrait shows the boys wearing Austrian folk costumes. We have no details, however, about the Austrian folk costune that they wore.

The Mahla Brothers

We have two images of the Mahla brothers. We thought at first that they were German boys. We know now that they are Astrian boys raised in Salzburg. Their names are Wilhelm and Ernst Mahla. Wilhelm was born on September 29, 1888 and Ernst January 12, 1890. A HBC reader tells us, "Wilhelm Mahla was my grandfather who died in July 1977. I am the son of his daughter Eva. Until 1977 my grandfather lived in Salzburg/Austria. The houses in "Mitterberg" and Salzburg still belong to my family." -- Nicolaus von Holtzendorff

Austria

Austria was in the 1890s not a small country, but in fact the governing center of a large multi-ethnic empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was one of the major powers of Europe. It was primarily a land power, but did have a small navy. As in Germany which was beginning to build a powerful high-seas fleet, the sailor suit was a popular outfit for boys. We have some information on an Austrian-Gemany family that lived in Budapest, at the time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as well. These Budapest bothers lived at about the same time as the Mahla brothers here. These two families give a wondrful view of children clothes during the late 19th and early 20th century in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Other Siblings

The Mahla brothers had two siblings, an older sister and I think a younger brother. There was a beautiful older sister 'Else' who was born on October 2, 1885. The portrait is an excellent depiction of a girl's dress in the 1890s. I'm not sure about the gender of the younger child, the hair looks like a boy, the dress could be either gender, but I am not sure about the bracelets on the wrist. The names on the back of the photo read Else und Erna Mahla. Hopefully our Austrian readers can tell us if Erna is a boy's or girl's name. I would guess this photo was taken around 1897.

Adult Lives

Wilhelm Mahla's grandson informs us, " My grandfather Wilhelm (father of my mother) had 4 brothers and sisters. Ernst (shown on the photo) and Bruno and the sisters Else und Erna. Ernst and Wilhelm had married two sisters of the Redlhammer family. Both families, Mahla and Redlhammer were in the jewellery business. They produced the famous "Gablonzer Schmuck" and buttons and exported on a global basis. They were close friends of the old Svarowski.They had representatives all over the world. The representatives in the States I remember were Hugo Feiks in New York and Bob Botion in Boca Raton, Florida. While my grandfather a "workaholic", Bruno was a lawyer and brother. Ernst was more kind of a "living-man", he loved car racing already in 1906 and bought an airplane in 1908 as soon as my grandfather became shareholder of the "Rumpler-Werke", which produced the first German single-engined plane. During World War II they lost everything except a castle in Austria and a residence in the Salzburg area (mountains). This residence was the "Noah's Arc", as part of the family which was Jewish had to be hidden during SS-Regime. We still own this house and it is the "center of vacation" for our family. [von Holtzendorff]

Chronology

The earlier photo of them was taken on April 15, 1894, the later one is undated.

Sailor Suits

The first photo shows the boys wearing matching sailor suits. They wear traditional sailor suits, but with beret-like tams that have poms. We have note French an English boys wearing these tams. They sem to have back streamers. We have not noted them to be as common in Germany. We have, however, on a limited number of images, making it difficult to make tese assessments. The sailor collars have only two white stipe and a stripe-like white border. We are not sure about the color of the collars. They may belight blue. Note that their dickies with the three stars are the same color.

Folk Costumes

The second portrait shows the boys wearing Austrian folk costumes. The hats in particular are very desinctive, although we do not know much about German/Austrian folk costumes to identify them. Hopefully our Austrian reader can tell us something about the folk costume. Did it reresent a certain region of Austria. Was it typical of the Salzburg area or perhaps an area of Austria from where ther parents came. Or perhaps it came from a shop where they sold generic folk costumes.

Sources

Nicolaus von Holtzendorff, e-Mail message, August 5, 2003.






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Created: November 10, 2002
Last edited: August 5, 2003