By BAYERN TOURISMUS Marketing GmbH
Forchheim Pfalz Museum
Home-spun and home-made, the best farmer's costume for a maid … Is this true? Or has there always been a mixture of textiles, a "crossover" of materials and patterns?
Gröschel department store in Forchheim
In fact, rural women could only make coarse linen fabrics for sacks or towels themselves. The precious silk fabrics, which came from all over the world, were bought in fabric shops in towns or brought by commodity traders by arrangement.
On long trade routes to the villages
Until the Second World War, it was Jewish textile merchants who mainly supplied rural areas. They brought the brightly printed or silken textiles on long trade routes to villages. And these materials were, of course, being used in other parts of the world.
The silk scarves of the historical festive costume particularly captivate the eye with their flourish of color. The "mottled shawls" tied around the neck—made using ikat weaving techniques and characterized by "running," overlapping color gradients—are very striking.
Ikat weaving
Biedermeier fashion was already in love with the "mottled shawls." They came to Franconia on long trade routes, e.g. from Japan, Uzbekistan or Milan.
From 1811, the color etching process made the colorful or only red-and-black-printed headscarves widespread. Both single and married women liked wearing the "colorful" or "red" horn cloths with historical festive costumes.
The multicolored garments, with their striking rose patterns, were not only seen worn by women in the Forchheim region. The rose has a universal meaning, and the rose-patterned shawls were found in Eastern Europe. They were industrially produced.
People are resourceful when needs must: After the Second World War, there was not enough thread for the embroidered fair aprons, so women resorted to simply painting on the large flower patterns. Female refugees brought the painting technique and the paints for it along with them to Franconian Switzerland …
All around the world, you can find ties, scarves, dresses, shirts and skirts with Paisley patterns. The pattern originates from Persia. Around Forchheim, the woolen cloth worn around the shoulders for the traditional costume is therefore also referred to as "Persian pattern" cloth.
Nowadays, tradesmen no longer need to go from house to house. You can buy materials from all over the world with just a few clicks online. So why not tailor an apron cut in the historical way, but with colorful fabric from the South American Andes?
Interview with costume designer Sandra Müller
The Costume Museum in Forchheim
The Costume Museum in Forchheim explores the history of the region's traditional costumes, tells the story of these costumes, the various occasions at which they were worn and the people who wore them, and links this to contemporary costume culture.
Forchheim Pfalz Museum, https://kaiserpfalz.forchheim.de/
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.