Figure 1.--Berets are generally seen as French boys' headwear. We have, however, note numerous images of German boys wearing berets as well. Notice the flower on this boy's beret--perhaps and edelweiss. We are not real sure jut how common they were for school wear. This is the only one we have noted. We think they might have been worn more for dressing up than schoolwear. Even so we see a few nostly younger boys wearing them to school. This image is also interesting because you get to see what was in his cone. Put your cursor on the image to see the full view.

We have also noted German school boys wearing a variety of caps. Secondary schools had a type of peaked military caps. The headwear at porimary school was more varied. One of the different styles worn was the beret. Berets are generally seen as French boys' headwear. We have, however, note numerous images of younger German boys wearing berets as well. We are not sure about the chronology. Most of the images we have found come from the 20th century. We are not real sure just how common they were for school wear. We think they might have been worn more for dressing up than schoolwear, but they were worn to school. We see a few mostly younger boys wearing them to school. They were worn with a variety of outfits, including sailor suits. We think that they were somewhat regional, being more popular in the west closer to France. NAZI authorities after Alsace was recaptured (1940), banned the wearing of berets because they were seen as a French style. Boys could wear berets in the rest of the Reich, but not in Alsace. We rarely see Germsan boys wearing berets after World War II, except for Scouting. The berets are almost always dark, probably black. They seem to have been mostly worn pulled down rather than in a cocky military angel.

Popularity

We have also noted German school boys wearing a variety of caps. Secondary schools had a type of peaked military caps. The headwear at porimary school was more varied. One of the different styles worn was the beret. Berets are generally seen as French boys' headwear. We have, however, note numerous images of younger German boys wearing berets as well. MOst of the images ware portraits which suggests mother added the beret rather than the boy chosing it.

Chronology

We are not sure about the chronology of berets in German schools. We have seen few 19th century images, but this may reflect our relatively limited 19th century image archive. We are still looking into this. Most of the images we have found come from the 20th century, primarily the early-20th century. We see some from the early-20th century, but are not yet sure about prevalence. We have been surprised to find any more examples after World War I in the inter-War era. We think they were popular in both the 1920s and 30s. We have a very substantial German 20th century archive. And thus believe that the photographic record is a, fairly good representation of actual prevalence. The beret was not a major schoolheadwear style, but it was not unusual either. We thought that after World War that French styles would have become unpopular. This was, however, not the case. We do not know if there were regional differences. The excption was Alsace-Loraine. NAZI officials prohibited wearing of berets, including school children along with the French language. After World War II, we no longer see berets worn at schools. We suspect there were some, especially in the late-1940s and early-50s. We have, however, not yet found examples in the photographic record.

Image

We are not sure just what image the beret had in Germany. We suspect thatit was seen as a French style. Thefact that many mothers chose it suggests that they saw fashion as more important than nationalism. This is interesting in the super-heated nationlist atmosphere both before and after World war. We continue to see boys wearing berets even after the NAZIs seized power despite the French image. It is also notable that only younger boys wore them. This was because many boys wore school caps once they began secondary school. The photoigrsaophic record suggests that it was also because the beret was not very popular for older boys. Here nationlist issues ny have been a factor. We also suspect that the beret was primarly associated with little boys. The military image the beret has today is an artifact of World War II and did not exist before the War.

Conventions

We are not real sure just how common they were for school wear. We think they might have been worn more for dressibg up than schoolwear, but they were worn to school.

Age

We see a few mostly younger boys wearing berets them to school. They are especially common in the popular first day beginning school portrits. These boys would have been 6 year olds. This leads us to believe that it was a style mostly popular with mothers. We mostly see boys 10-years of age or younger wearing berets. They were much less common with the older boys in secondary schools.

Accompanying Clothes

They were worn with a variety of outfits, including sailor suits.

Regional Trends

We think that they were somewhat regional, being more popular in the west closer to France. NAZI authorities after Alsace was recaptured (1940), banned the wearing of berets because they were seen as a French style. Boys could wear berets in the rest of the Reich, but not in Alsace. We rarely see German boys wearing berets after World War II, except for Scouting.

Color

The berets are almost always dark, probably black. Navy blue is another possibility, but unfortunsately can be identified from a lack-and-white photoraph.

Wearing Berets

They seem to have been mostly worn pulled down rather than in a cocky military angel. We are unsure to what extent girls wore them.

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Created: 6:10 AM 11/20/2006
Last updated: 2:38 PM 1/27/2015