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The regions, towns and places, and their highlights, stories, traditions, customs and festivals

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Why they dress the way they dress

Photo: Aquajazz

Photo: Kiu

Photo: Florian Schott

Photo:

Claude TRUONG-NGOC

The Lederhosen:

The two varieties are short or knee length and are still worn by some of the locals as everyday garments and by others at festivals to support the old traditions.

The major reasons these pants have to be replaced is outgrowing them, either by growing up or through good food and beer by growing out (this happened to me). They are almost indestructible and just like with a true blue jeans wearer here, any proud owner would never be caught with a pair that does not have some signs of wear.

It is actually amazing how many Lederhosen you still see in the area on a daily basis.


One of their odd but noteworthy uses dating back to the 15th century was a method for testing beer. Freshly brewed beer was poured on an oak bench and the 4 official testers actually sat in it for a couple of hours, if they could get up without the bench sticking to them the beer was not strong enough, as the brewer did not use enough malt. In those days in some locations there were actually penalties imposed for not passing this test.

So, let’s put on our lederhosen and test how all these watered down light beers fare nowadays.

In German the word for the traditional clothes of a town or region is called a “Tracht” and they are still proudly worn on special occasions and area festivals to classify you as a local.

There is no all encompassing “Bavarian Tracht” as they differ from region to region, but the most familiar style associated with Bavaria are the outfits centered around Miesbach in Upper Bavaria. These are the outfits seen at the Bavarian folks dance exhibitions you encounter at most German festival here in the USA.

The Dirndl:

The more commonly seen outfits associated with the region is the Dirndl. Dirndl originally referred to a young woman or a girl, and Dirndlgewand to the dress. They are based on the dresses worn by the southern Bavarian peasants. Quite a few years ago wearing them also became fashionable in the rich houses and the materials used changed from the common linen or cotton to more exotic cloth like silk or expensive hand printed and embroidered materials.

These are the fashions worn by many during a trip to the local festivals and are also the traditional “uniform” of the amazing local women who can make 10 men happy at a time, the waitresses at the Oktoberfest able to carry 10 liter steins of beer all at once.