Figure 1.--German boys in the 1990s no longer wore lederhosen like they use to, but they were still worn for special occasiions and folk events This boy wears lederhosen for his fiest day of school in the 1990s. Notice the gift cone.

Readers have provided us some accounts of their personal experiences. Here we have received information from Germans, but only foreigner who livd in Germany. We only have a few accounts at thus time, but hope more of our German readers will provide us additional accounts about their own experiences. Lederhosen were clearly very popular for a time. The increasing popularity of jeans, however, eventually reduced the wearing of Lederhosen.

German Brothers (1940s)

One HBU contributor tells me that he was stationed in Europe (mostly in Germany--Bavaria) and Austria in the U.S. Army from early 1946 through 1948. During that time, most of the boys wore lederhosen shorts. He was friendly with several German families and one of the daughters from one of these families married a G.I. He was their best man at the wedding . This family had three brothers ages 8, 12 and 16 and all wore lederhosen to school and he hardly never saw them in any other fashion. Could have been hard times since Germany was still recovering from the war.

Jockel's Lederhosen (1940s)

Here are my boyhood memories from the 1940s, both during and after World War II. Lederhosen then were popular for boys. They were nearly undestroyable, needed no washing, could not be spoiled by dirt, and limited back pain in case of being caned. The more grown out they were, the better! Finally, having been outgron, theycould be handed down ti a younger brother or cousin who could wer them for several more years.

A German Boy in America (1940s)

An American boy remembers a German refuge boy whose family came to America in the 1940s. He wore lederhosen for which the other children teased him. He and the American boy became good friends.

Rural German Boy (1953)

This boy and his family is a good example of how rural children dressed in the Post-World war II era. He was photographed in the Black Forrest area about 1953. He looks to be about 8 years old. The boy has a stocking or watch cap with a playful pom. I'm not sure what color it was. He wears a sweater with long short pants, perhaps corduroys, and woolen long stockings. Note the suspenders (braces) that he wears over his sweater. His shoes are hightops which were still common in Germany during the early 1950s--especially in rural areas. In the early 1950s one or two dugout water basins still commonly stood in front of each farm house. Many of these farmers were very well to do, some even rich. Their clothes and their children's clothes wereoften very simple--but commonly sturdy.

An American Boy in Germany (1950s)

An American boy has provided us details about his experiences in Germany during the 1950s. "I spent the summer of 1955 in northern Germany, in North Rhine Westphalia, as an exchange student. I was a 16 year old prep school student at the time. I celebrated my 17th birthday there with my German family. I was a junior going into my senior year.

English Boy in Germany (1950s-60s)

An English boy in Germany provides HBC information about his expereinces in Germany during the 1950-60s. He remembers in particular the lederhosen. My father was an English serviceman following the war and I was consequently brought up in military communities throughout the world. During the 1950's we lived mainly in England. As many service men had married German women while serving in Germany following the war even in England many boys wore lederhosen.

English Boy in Germany (1950s-60s)

Trevor whose father was in the Services also spent some time in Germany. He recalls how the shorts that German boys wore were shorter than the nes worn by the English boys. He also remembered that a number of German boys wore Lederhosen. This was before jeans were widely worn and even teenagers commonly wore Lederhosen.

American Exchange Students (1960s)

Many Americans participated in foreign exchange programs. Most of these exchanges were with European schools. One popular country was Germany. The students involved were high school students, often in their junior year. We have an image of four of these exchange students in Germany during the early 1060s. The four boys are all trying out lederhosen as part of their German cultural experience.

English Swim Team Trip (1970)

An English reader tells us about his Lederhosen incident. He was 10 years old and had traveled to Germany with his swim team. All the boys on the team were taken in by a German family. Thus they not only were involved with swimming, but got to meet German families and play with other German children. While in Germany he mostly wore his own clothes. A friend's mother tried to get him to wear Lederhosen.

Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to Main German lederhosen page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Clothing styles] [Countries]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossary] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]

Created: June 30, 2003
Last updated: 8:48 AM 7/3/2007