German Family Photograph Album: Primary School Portrait


Figure 1.-- One of the photographs in the album shows a boy wearing short trousers but with the old-fashioned survival of the ornamental buttons at the hem that used to distinguish "knee pants." The image was imprecisely dated but was labeled "late 1920s". He is standing beside a standard school placard which reads (in translation) "To Remember My School Days By". We think the boy here did not go on to secondary school, but is about to finish his primary education.

One of the photographs in the album shows a boy wearing a kind of sweater shirt and short trousers. The boy wears a knitted shirt with long sleeves and collar that serves as both a sweater and a shirt at the same time. The boy's short pants have the old-fashioned survival of the ornamental buttons at the hem that used to distinguish "knee pants." His short trousers are at least four inches above the knee, but sill have the decorative buttons. He wears the standard brown cotton long stockings that were so common in the 1920s and 1930s. They are obviously held up by supporters because they are so smooth and taut on his leg. Boys at the time dressed more formaly in secondary school so we assume he was an older boy in a primary school. This boy is much too old for a beginning schoolboy. He must be at least 12 or 13 years old and would be in about the equivalent of the 8th grade by American standards. Notice too the low-cut leather shoes which were beginning to replace hightop shoes in the 1920s. He is standing beside a standard school placard which reads (in translation) "To Remember My School Days By". His school must have had a custom of photographing boys who were finishing up their primary years. Boys at this point would have been finishing their education. Boys persuing secondary educatin would have left primary school at about 10-11 years of age. The way he is dressed also suggests that he is not a boy headed for secindary school.

Album Portrait

One of the photographs in the album shows a boy who looks to be about 12-13 years old. He is unidentified. So we do not know how he figures into the Chemitz family. This portrait seems a little different than the other portraits in the album whivh show many boys in secondary school.

Chronology

The prtrait is undated, but one source dates it to the "late 1920s". A HBC reader writes, "I think it must be around 1928-29."

Clothing

The boy wears a kind of sweater shirt and short trousers but with the old-fashioned survival of the ornamental buttons at the hem that used to distinguish "knee pants." The boy wears a knitted shirt with long sleeves and collar that serves as both a sweater and a shirt at the same time. His short trousers are at least four inches above the knee, but sill have the decorative buttons. This photo shows the transition at the time from knee pants to short pants. Boys before World War I generally wore knee pants. These were knee-length pants that often had ornamental leg-hem buttons. After the War short pants gradually becae more common. These were shorter cut pants which did not have the ornamental buttons. During the 1920s and into the 30s we see a mix. Here the boy has the ornsamental buttons, but ho pants are cut above the knee. This transitional period varied from country to country. We see many other examples in the photographic fecord of this transition. A good example is another German boy. The Chemnitz boy here also wears the standard brown cotton long stockings that were so common in the 1920s and 1930s. They are obviously held up by supporters because they are so smooth and taut on his leg. Notice too the low-cut leather shoes which were beginning to replace hightop shoes in the 1920s.

School Levels

Most German children attended promary school together beginning at age 6 for 4 yerars. This was called Grundschule or Volksschule. There were some differences from state to state and other names were used, but this was the general pattern. The states schools were so good that there were few private schools. Thus children of all kasses attended Grundschule. This change after the fourth year when children from more affluent families went on to secondary schools. Here the selection was theoretically academic ability, but social class was a major factor. I believe that the children who did not go to a secondary school stayed in primary school for a few more years, but I do not yet have details about this. Hopefully our German readers will tell us more about this.

Primary School

Boys at the time dressed more formaly in secondary school so we assume he was an older boy in a primary school. This boy is much too old for a beginning schoolboy. He must be at least 12 or 13 years old and would be in about the equivalent of the 8th grade by American standards.

Zur Erinnerung am Meine Schulzeit

He is standing beside a standard school placard which reads (in translation) "To Remember My School Days By". A reader writes, "His school must have had a custom of photographing boys who were finishing up their primary years. Boys at this point would have been finishing their education." Here we are not sure if all the children at the school had these portraits taken or just the children finishing school. We note large numbers of children photographed on their first day of school. These rememberance photographs of older cildren are much less common.

This Boy's School Transitions

Boys persuing secondary education would have left primary school at about 10-11 years of age. The way he is dressed also suggests that he is not a boy headed for secondary school. A reader writes,"I'm curious why you think the boy's clothing indicates he's not the sort who would be going on to secondary school. Too informal? You are probably correct, but it would be nice to have a bit more explanation for this statement." The images we have archived of German secondary schools show boys dressed more formally than the boy here. We see photographs from primary schools with boys wearing informal shirts at the time. A good example is a class photographWeimar era you seen greater formality. Quite a number of boys wear suits and ties and many who do not (especially during the Summer) wear white shirts. Now we see see some boys wearing informal sirts like this, but they seem a minority. Also look at another photograph on the Chemnitz album of a NAZI ceremony at the secondary school and you will see that he boys are more formally dressed. A good example of the informal dress standards and the older children at a primary school is the Hermsdorf School. This more formal clothes worn at secondary schools may in part be due to standards at the secondary school, but it is also due to the fashion satardards of middle class families.









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Created: 12:45 AM 3/14/2007
Last updated: 9:32 PM 3/16/2007