Figure 1.--This German portrait was dated 1928. Notice how closely cropped this boy's head is.

HBC notices numerous photographs of German boys with cropped hair or very short hair. I at first thought that they were shaved heads, but now think cropping is more likely. We are, however, uncertain about this. HBC has noted that this style continued into the early 20th century, especially in the era during and before World War I (1914-18) often wore closely cropped hair. This was a very common fashion for younger boys. I'm not sure why this was so common in Germny. Sanitary factors were involved. The style looks very militaristic today, I am not sure that was how Germans at the time viewed it. This fashion virtually disappeared in the 1930s. This style continued somewhat into the 1920s, but was little seen by the 1930s. Apparently this rather military-inspired style was not of intetest to the NAZIs. Perhaps for the same reason that they did not introduce school uniforms. Many photos of the Hitler Youth show boys with rather short hair on side and back, but fairly long on top. We have not noted photographs of Hitler Youth boys with cropped heads.

The Cut

HBC notices numerous photographs of German boys with cropped hair or very short hair. I at first thought that they were shaved heads, but now think cropping is more likely. We are, however, uncertain about this. We think that the cut was more likely to be done by clippers than a razor. A German reader tells us, "I never had cropped hair like this, but I remember seeing boys with cropped hair in the 1940s during and after the War. It was done by a "hand clipper" (which at this time the barber also used, for cutting the hairs around the neck and the ears)."

Chrononology

We note German boys with cropped hair in the 19th century. We are unsure, however, just when in the 19th century that this became a common style for boys. With the development of photography in the mid-19th century we begin to have a better idea of trends. Although ealy photography under represents the working class. We note very large numbers of German boys with these cropped hair styles in school portraits from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. HBC has noted that this style continued into the early 20th century. Boys especially in the era during and before World War I (1914-18) often wore closely cropped hair. There are many examples archived on HBC. Examples include boys in 1917 and 1918. These cropped hair styles continued somewhat into the early 1920s, especially for younger boys. The fashion virtually disappeared during the 1930s.

Purpose

Shaved or close-cropped hair was a very common fashion for school-age boys. We are not sure why this was so common in Germany. We believe that it was a practice common in the military before public schools were founded. The photographic record allowing us to follow hair styling only begins well after the public school tradition was well-established in Germany. Parents may have adopted it after it was promoted in schools. Hygiene factors presumably were involved. We are not sure to what extent it was a fashion statement and to what extent it was to prevent the spread of lice. Shaving the head can help keep it clean and make sure it is free of lice. Given that many families did not have running water and indoors plumbing, this had to be an important factor. Hygiene can not have been the only factor because girls rarely had heir heads shaved. And girls tended to have longer hair meaning more obvious host areas for lice. The style looks very militaristic today, but we were not sure that was how Germans at the time viewed it. And it s important to remember hat until after World War I and especially World War II, that Germans had a different attitude toward he military than people in the English-speaking world. In addition German unification was achieved by the Prussian Kingdom and Prussia had a long history of militarism. Shaved heads was a common military style. Thus conformity and discipline is likely to have been a factor. This was not a hair style limited to Germany, but a common style throughout Eastern Europe, but less common in Western Europe. Shaved hair was especially common in Germany, Poland and Russia. We think that Germany might have been the origin of this convention. Remember that it was in Germany that public schools were founded in Europe. Thus countries following the German example may have adopted shaved/cropped hair along with public education. It was rare in America and Britain. And in Germany declined in popularity after World War I (1914-18) in the 1920s.

The NAZIs

Apparently this rather military-inspired style was not of intetest to the NAZIs. This is rather interesting because the NAZIs were so obsessed with the military and military uniforms. Perhaps the NAZis did not take to cropped hair for the same reason that they did not introduce school uniforms. Many photos of the Hitler Youth show boys with rather short hair on side and back, but fairly long on top. We have not noted photographs of Hitler Youth boys with cropped heads.

Social Class

We believe that social class was a factor here. We tend to see these cropped hair cuts more with working class families than middle-class families. This may have varied over time. In particular by the 1910s and 20s, middle class children were less likely to have the shortly cropped hair. Also there were other factors. Boys from military families were more likely to have cropped hair cuts. Here we are just speculating as to the social class factors. Hopefully our German readers will be able to provide more insight. One of our German readers writes, "Social class certainly was a strong factor, many children, saving the money to go to the barber, time by mother / father to bring and supervise the small child at the barber's shop.. Middle-class families could afford normal hair cut by a barber."

Gender

Cropped hair is primarily a boys' hair cut. The great majority of the children with cropped hair are boys. Not every child, however, with cropped hair is a boy. We assume that parents choosing cropped hair as a kind of fashion would have normallhy only chosen these cuts for boys. Fashion was not, however, the only reason. Another factor was sanitation. In the 19th and early 20th century when many people did not have modern bathrooms or even running water in the home, sanitation was a problem. This meant that people did not bathe as is now common. As a result, head lice could easily be transferred at school. This affected girls as well as boys. This could explain why some girls had their hair cropped. There could be other reasons. Our information here is still very limited.

Individual Boys

There are numerous German boys with cropped hair archived on HBC. Cropped hair was a very common hair style. We hope to link many of them here. One example is an unidentified boy about 1910. Another example is two brothers wearing sailor suits photographed in 1912.

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Created: October 10, 2003
Last edited: 4:02 PM 10/18/2007