Figure 1.--These German children photographed in 1940 are wearing Bavarian folk costume. These black hats are one of the two styles we have noted being worn with Tracht.

Trachten headwearvaries by region and by Verein within the region. Trachten means traditional Alpine clothing. We see basically two different Trachten headwear being worn with Lederhosen. One was a rather informal green cap without a fully formed brim and a cord serving as a kind of hat band. We only see boys and men wearing these caps. We have noted this headwear referred to as an Alpine caps. We have noted a reference to the Allgäuer Hat with Gamsbart. For festive occasions--a single flower in hat is added to match the womens' hats. We think this may be the green Alpine caps. We also note a black hat, usually with a rounded crown, but we have seen semi-conical flat crowns as well. They all seem have medium brims that always are upturned. We do not know what this hat was called. Unlike the Alpine cap, this back hat was worn by both boys and girls. We see feathers or Gamsbarts (the beard of a chamois) commonly added to both types of headwear. Boys and men must remove their headwear in church or during outdoors worship. An exception here is flag bearers or musicians who are playing in a standing band. Seated musicians commonly remove theirheadwear. With these exceptions, males wear their headwear noth indoors and out. A factor here is that the hat was once was a symbol of a free man, destinguishing him from a feudal serf.

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Created: 4:53 PM 6/6/2010
Last updated: 4:53 PM 6/6/2010