Sorbian costumes
The Sorbian costumes form a group of costumes in Lausitz that has been part of the cultural identity of the Sorbs (Wends) for centuries . Today there are still four different everyday costumes, which, although often no longer daily, are mainly worn by women (in traditional families). In the other traditional costume areas, traditional costumes are usually only worn on special occasions.
history
Around 1850 the Sorbian costume area was much larger, today there are only a few remains of traditional costumes. At that time the Sorbian women in Lower Lusatia around Ziebingen , Aurith and Sorau (today's Poland) wore traditional costume. There were also the costumes around Neu Zauche , around Lübbenau / Spreewald and around Horno . In Upper Lusatia there were regionally different costumes around Senftenberg , Klitten , Nochten , Muskau and the costumes of the Protestant Upper Sorbs.
It is also noteworthy that in addition to the festive costume discussed below, which is usually held together with several hundred pins and therefore takes hours to put on, there was also a work costume that was intended for daily use in the field and in the household. This is still worn today by mostly older women, especially in rural areas. However, it hardly plays a role in tourism and is therefore largely unknown. Here too there were and are regional differences.
Traditional costume areas
The Sorbian costume area is divided into 11 traditional costume regions, in four of which the Sorbian costume is sometimes still worn in everyday life. In the other Sorbian traditional costume regions, traditional costumes are only worn on special occasions (Zapust, Kokot) or are preserved as so-called "chest costumes".
Traditional costume of Lower Lusatia
The traditional costumes of Niederlausitz vary from village to village, larger groups are the Wendish traditional costumes around Neu Zauche and Cottbus . In Lower Sorbian costumes, a leveling out has been noticeable since the 20th century, which resulted from the increasing urban influence. A characteristic of the Lower Sorbian costume are the hoods , which vary in size, with the women around Burg having the largest hoods. In addition to the display of the wealth of a region, tourism also played a role in the size development. Other typical properties include flat embroidery .
Costume around a bow
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The Schleifer costume is still worn today in the villages of the Schleifer parish . The various Schleifer costumes are very colorful. Red caps worn by unmarried girls are typical. The main materials used in traditional costumes are wool and linen ; What is also important is the blueprint , which plays an essential role in the design.
The Muskau costume
The Muskau costume is one of the so-called "chest costumes".
Traditional costume around Hoyerswerda
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The traditional costume of the Sorbs around Hoyerswerda is still worn in 24 localities today. As with Schleifer traditional costumes, wool and linen fabrics are often used, but silk and tulle are also important in the design. The costume around Hoyerswerda has a very pronounced symbolism, which also means that it is the most varied of the Sorbian costumes. The everyday costumes differ little from each other, but the festive costumes all the more. To this day, women wear glass pearls as jewelry, among other things , because at that time hardly any of the women in this rural area owned more valuable jewelry.
Traditional costume of the Catholic Sorbs
The area of distribution of the Catholic costume largely covers the area of the Catholic parishes around Bautzen , Kamenz and Hoyerswerda, but the costume is also still worn in and around Radibor . Due to the early onset of industrialization in this area, the residents achieved a certain level of prosperity at an early stage, which is also noticeable in jewelry and costume. Above all, cloth, silk, good wool fabrics and even furs are processed. Due to the strong influence of the church, the Catholic costumes are kept strict and dark. In the mourning and procession costumes, archaic features have been preserved in the white coverings .
Costume of the Protestant Sorbs around Bautzen
The costume of the evangelical Sorbs around Bautzen gradually disappeared from everyday life at the beginning of the 19th century, but is now again worn on special occasions such as confirmations or pageants. The traditional costumes available today were reproduced from the originals using photographs, written descriptions and preserved individual items and are maintained by the Hochkirch traditional costume association, for example. Depending on the occasion, marital status and season, there are numerous variants of the costume. Regarding the weather, a distinction is made between “dressed”, that is, long-sleeved costume and “undressed”, that is, short-sleeved costume. The dressed church costume includes z. B. a black, long-sleeved jacket, while a white blouse is worn with the traditional costume. The church attire of married women is in black and white. A white lace apron and a white shawl are worn over a black skirt and black spencer. The black bonnet is a key distinguishing feature from unmarried women. Girls and unmarried women, on the other hand, wear a white hood on church occasions. In addition, her costume is decorated with colored elements such as colored ribbons, scarves or pearl necklaces. The girls' dance costumes are even more colorful and sometimes with a wreath of flowers instead of a bonnet. In the work costume, z. B. for the spinner, coarser fabrics and muted colors are used.
Sorbian-Catholic bridal costume around 1870
Bridesmaid dress (družka) from behind
"Undressed" church attire for unmarried (left) and "dressed" for married Protestants around Bautzen
Reconstructed Upper Sorbian men's costume 2010
Sorbian men's costumes
The much less elaborate Sorbian men's costume has largely disappeared since around 1870 and has given way to the usual men's fashion. In-depth studies of the old men's costumes, which were relatively homogeneous throughout the Sorbian region, are lacking, as they lag behind the women's costumes.
Nevertheless, about five categories of men's costume can be identified. The church attire consisted of a blue linen smock or linen coat that was not fed until around 1830. This coat was very open-minded and had a low stand-up collar and a large number of silver buttons on the button placket, pockets and sleeves, which above all showed the wealth of the wearer. From the waistcoat worn under the traditional costume, which was often made of red fabric, a lining of the coat developed after 1830, which in part, based on the waistcoat , could be removed, and later appeared to be firmly sewn in. It is likely that the practice of decorating the coat with advances also developed during this period. These were mostly red, for example in the Bautzner and Hoyerswerda region, but also in the region around Guben. In Loop, where these coats lasted the longest until after 1900, the advances were white. The National Socialists used this form of costume on an election poster from 1932. Today these old coats are occasionally made for the Sorbian national samble. In Upper Lusatia , only one traditional costume wearer of this coat is known. In addition to the blue coat, a white coat was originally known as a dance costume or festival costume in the whole of Lusatia .
This form of costume also disappeared around 1880, but is used in the Spreewald mainly for folkloric occasions. Variants of this coat can also be found in Czech traditional costume regions. A sparse remainder of the festive costume are bundles and bouquets made of embroidered cloths, ribbons and imitations of plants that are worn on clothing, on hats or on sticks on festive occasions.
A special form of a festive costume is the clothing of the Easter riders in the Catholic Lausitz. This consists of a black frock coat and top hat and is specially designed for riding suitability. This equestrian costume, which is also supplemented by richly decorated ribbons and shawls, is the most common in use, but is only worn directly at Easter .
The musicians' costume has also been preserved in a loop , which can be recognized by a three-cornered hat , decorated blue jackets and long white trousers.
On the other hand, the Sorbian work costume, which consisted of linen shirts and trousers, such as a blue apron, differs only slightly from the usual work clothes around 1900. This form of costume is occasionally still in everyday use, but more often as a supplement to women's costume when depicting a pair of traditional costumes, e.g. B. also at the bird wedding. The trousers, on the other hand, were very different. Until around 1880, white or light yellow knee breeches were worn in some cases, as is also common in Czech men's costumes. To this day, long white trousers with a button placket are worn in a bow with the musician's costume. In addition, long trousers made of linen were widespread, more recently in dark colors. The headgear, on the other hand, was very different and cannot be assigned to any specific traditional costume region. Probably the oldest headgear was a fur cap made of white sheepskin or other light-colored materials with a black tip. A mostly blue peaked cap, which is still worn occasionally today, was also widely used. In addition, the three-cornered hat was used as part of the costume in some regions to this day in the costume of the musician and wedding bitters. The cylinder is still used today for wedding suits and for the similar costume worn by Easter riders.
Sources and further reading
literature
- Lotar Balke, Albrecht Lange: Sorbian costume book. Domowina-Verlag , Bautzen 1985.
- Series Sorbian Folk Costumes , published by the Institute for Sorbian Folk Research (German and Sorbian)
- 1st volume. Martin Nowak-Neumann , Paul Nedo : The costume of the Sorbs around a bow. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1954, 1984. (The 2nd edition was revised and expanded by Albrecht Lange .)
- 2nd volume. Jan Meschgang , Lotar Balke : The costume of the Catholic Sorbs. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1986.
- 3rd volume. Erich Schneider , Lotar Balke: The traditional costume of the Sorbs around Hoyerswerda. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1959, 1983.
- 4th volume. Martin Nowak-Neumann, Lotar Balke: The costume of the Sorbs around Cottbus. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1991.
- 5th volume. Chest costumes:
- Booklet 1. Albrecht Lange: The Neuzaucher costume. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1976.
- Booklet 2. Lotar Balke: The costume of the Sorbs around Lübbenau. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1976.
- Booklet 3. Lotar Balke: The costume of the Sorbs around Senftenberg / Spremberg. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1977.
- Booklet 4. Albrecht Lange: The costume of the Sorbs around Muskau. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1978.
- Booklet 5. Blasius Nawka, Albrecht Lange: The costume of the Sorbs around Nochten and Klitten. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1979.
- Booklet 6. Blasius Nawka: The costume of the evangelical Sorbs of the Bautzener country. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen 1979.
- Costume book series Gładźarnica - Slěpjańska burska drasta / Die Schleifer costume . Publisher: Kólesko eV, loop
- Part 1 - Dźěćetko (The Christ Children of the Parish Loop), 2018, ISBN 978-3-9819636-0-1 . (This first comprehensive monograph on Dźěćetko was awarded the 3rd prize of the Saxon State Prize for Local Research in 2019. )
Footnotes
- ↑ according to studies: Maria Mirtschin: The view from the outside. Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen. ISBN 978-3-7420-2039-0
- ↑ Leopold Haupt , Johann Ernst Schmaler : Folksongs of the Wends, second part. Grimma 1843. p. 209.
- ^ Original poster in the Sorbian Museum, Bautzen
- ↑ Wilibald von Schulenburg : Wendish folklore in legend, custom and custom. Domowina-Verlag, p. 1, footnote
- ↑ www.trachtenpuppen-kupke.de
- ↑ Home - Sorbian Cultural Center
