|
This class of German primary school pupils taken at Bierfeld, Germany, during World War II in 1940. The War had not yet affected living standards in Gemany. We can see their school in the background. We are not sure what type of school this was. We know it was located in Bierfeld, but we are not sure that was the name of the school. Note that it was a coeducational school. We find single gender schools more common in Germany. These children seem to be about 11-12 years of age. The boys all seem to be wearing long stockings with short trousers, but at least three of the boys seem to have unfastened their hose supporters and rolled their stockings down below the knee to look like knee socks.
Here we note a snap shot from the school in 1941 with the older children on a country outing. The children entered the school in 1934 (Einschulung) in 1934 and were due to finish (Schulentlassung) in 1942. Notice that one boy is wearing his Hitler Youth uniform and another boy his Hitler Youth shorts. I'm not sure how common this was.
Here we see a First Communion event at a Catholic school during World War II. We think the school is in Bavaria. The boys are rather simply dressed, white shirts and dark short pants. The girls wear white dresses, but not the fancy junior bridal dressess that girls often wear for First Communion. Perhaps the War meant that First Communion outfits were more basic than usual. The War in 1941, however, had not yet begun to impinge significantly on the home front. Only after the disaster before Moscow at the end of the year (December 1941) did German begin to experience military reverses requiring mosre sacrifices by German civilians. This is ome of several photographs available fron this school. While we do not know the name of the school, as the building is in the background, it may be possible to identify it. Also note the school crest which is being used in the ceremony.
A photograph from an unidentified German primary school shows older primary boys about 10 or 11 in 1947 two years after World War II. Most of the boys wear short pants suits with long stockings. Two boys (front row, third and fourth from the right) wear ankle socks, while another boy (front row, second from the right) has rolled his long stockings down below his knees to give the appearance of knee socks. At least three boys wear long ski pants gathered at the ankles or, in one case, ordinary long trousers. A few boys wear neckties, but most wear open shirts and also jackets and sweaters without ties. The long stockings are either light tan (perhaps beige) or brown. The boy with rolled long stockings has beige as his hosiery color. A few boys wear waist-length, almost military-style, jackets as opposed to ordinary suit jackets.
This photograph taken after the War in 1947 shows the affect of the War. It is a much larger group of children, presumably the whole school. Even so we still see only one teacher. If he was the only teacher he certasinly must have had his hands full. We can also see a corner of the school building. The villages schools like this mostly survived the War. The schools located in the heavily bombed cities were badly damaged or completely destroyed. Several children are barefoot, unable to obtain or afford shoes. Clothes in general were in short supply, but leathet products in particular were hard to get. The boys all wear short pants with either jackets or sweaters. The girls all wear dresses. Schönemoor would have been in the British occupation zone.
Here is another unidentified village school in 1947. All we know about this class photo is that it was taken in Germany in 1947. We do not know the name of the school or where it was located. The children look to be various ages and not a class group, but we are not sure that this was the entire school, most village schools were larger than this, even in small villages. The girls wear dresses, some with pinafores. The boys wear short pants, some with halters and straps. There seem to be more girls than boys foprvsome reasons. . The most notable aspect of this photograph is all the children are barefoot. Many school photographs at the time show some of the children barefoot All of the children barefoot is less common. This is a reflection on the very difficult conditions in Germany following the War. Another factor was probably the weather. It looks like a warm day. Probably most of these children had shoes, but did their parents wanted to save them for winter wear.
We note a German primary school class in 1948. They are a third year class and all boys. Gender separation appearently ws still quite common in 1948. A few of the boys wear lederhosen, but there may be more as many have jackets. We note that everal boys have Bavarian kackets. We are not sure where theis photograph was taken, but we suspect Bavaria.
Kuelsheim is a village near Würzburg. We do not know much about the school, but it seems to have had a substantial school. As I understand it, these schools were normally not named, but simply referred to as the school of the village in which they were located. We do have a class portrait taken The picture was taken in school year 1948-49. The children wear a variety of clothing styles. The difficult conditions in Germany after World War II are still aparent because many children are barefoot. Two of the boys wear folk-style jackets.
This is class of boys (aged about 10 to 12) from the Heinrich Heine School in Salzwedel, Germany, a town in Saxony-Anhalt at the junction of the Dumme and Jeetze rivers. The photograph was taken in October 1948 just after World War II. The class contained a number of very poor boys--their poverty made worse, of course, by the devastated condition of Germany in the postwar years. The commentator, who doesn't give his name, appears in the picture. He is the boy wearing the striped pullover in the second row just behind the boy wearing very short pants and long stockings with supporters ("Stumpfhalter" as the commentator calls them). See the enlarged detail of the second attached photo. His striped sweater was a gift from his Aunt Erna, who
had emigrated to the United States. The commentator, writing in 2004, mentions that the teacher of the school, Karl-Heinz Frank (he stands on the right), is still alive and was recently commended for his 50-year career as a teacher.
We note a class portrait at this unidentified German school in 1948. This class is mixed, having both boys and girls. Long stockings with short trousers were still quite prominent, but there seems to be a greater acceptance of long trousers. We are told, however, by several German readers that it was common for boys to continue to wear long stockings underneath long trousers for purposes of warmth even though they didn't show. The long stockings are of various shades--black, dark brown and light tan. The sixth boy from the left illustrates a problem sometimes complained about by adult German readers reminiscing about their childhood clothing--the problem of boys who had grown too tall for their older long stockings with the result that the hosiery did not properly cover the gap between their short trousers and their stocking tops. This particular boy wears only two garter straps on his Leibchen and the effect is not only to have the attachment of the stockings showing under his shorts but also the uncomfortable unevenness of the stockings and the sagging of the stockings on the inner legs. Notice that a few of the boys wear additional ankle socks on top of long stockings, socks that are folded down over the tops of the hightop shoes. This style was popular with both men and boys who hiked in Germany, and the extra socks provided additional warmth for the feet. The division between boys who wear shorts with long stockings and those who wear long trousers (perhaps with long stockings underneath) is about half and half.
Here we see the Kornau Grundschule (Primary School) in 1949. Kornau is a separate quarter of Oberstdorf, a Bavarian village. Oberstdorf is in Bavarian mountains, near the Austrian border. The boys wear typical clothing with lederhosen. Most are barefoot.
This class of German primary school pupils was taken in 1949 (figure 1). We do not know where it was located. We think it may be in East Germany, but we are not positive. Note that even though it is chilly, the boys do not wear long stockings. The #c suggests the third year of primary school which means the boys are about 8 years old.
This class portrait was taken in Heilbronn, a German town about 50 km north of Stuttgart. We are not sure what the specofic name of the school was. It shows a 4th grade class in 1949. Most of the boys are wearing lederhosen or cloth H-bar shorts. It seeems to have been the standard style. We see both leather haltars and cloth H-bars. Interestingly only one boy wears plain suspnder shorts. Footwear seems highly variable. we see boots, shoes, strap-shoes, sandals and bare feet. Almost all of the boys have come to school with just shirts. Many wear short sleeve shirts or long sleee shirts with the sleeves rolled up.
We notice the primary school in Gleina during 1949. Gleina is a small town in the Burgenlandkreis district of Saxony-Anhalt. We think the class is the 3rd year (about 8 year olds). At the time it was part of East Germany, but very close to the border with the West. The class is mixed. Except for one boy in long pants, all the children, both boys and girls, wear dark long stockings, obviously with Strapsleibchen (bodices and supporters).
Notice many of the children wear ankle socks with their long stockings. We are not sure why that was. We notice this in the 1930s with Hitler Youth boys, who wore ankle socks with knee socks. We thought this was because of the hiking. We are not sure about these children. Perhaps it was for added warmth. One of the girls in the front row wears a pinafore. Several of the boys wear suspenders with their short trousers. The boy in the front row, third from the right, wears his short trousers with a halter and cross strap over a sweater. Another boy in the second row has the same kind of shorts with a halter top. The picture was taken outdoors apparently in front of the school doors. The teacher is standing in the back at the left in a suit and tie. One interesting question we can notvyet answer is how the teachers like this gentleman were chosen. We wonder if he was a teacher duruing the NAZI age, given his age he might have been. Or if not, how were new teachers recruited by the Communist Government. Perhaps some of our German readers will know.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Main Chronology Page]
[The 1850s]
[The 1860s]
[The 1870s]
[The 1880s]
[The 1890s]
[The 1900s]
[The 1910s]
Navigate the German school pages
[Return to the Main German individual school chronology page]
[Return to the Main German school uniform page]
[Imperial Germany]
[Weimar Republic]
[NAZI era]
[Post-war Years]
[Modern Germany]
[Return to the Main school uniform page]
[Return to the Main school uniform national page]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing School Uniform Pages
[Main School Uniform Page]
[Australia]
[England]
[France]
[Germany]
[Italy]
[Japan]
[New Zealand]
[Scotland]
[United States]
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[German glossary]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
