Bremen costume (19th century)
The Bremen costume in the 19th century was a peasant folk costume . How Bremen separated itself sharply from the surrounding area in so many ways, in political (its state independence), in economic (its trade and shipping ), in religious (its Reformed creed ) and in many other respects from the surrounding area, this is also evident in the costume.
All around Bremen the costumes differed according to the individual parishes and showed visible differences here and there. Major differences resulted here as a rule from the transitions from the Geest to the marshland or to the moor , where there were otherwise sharper differences.
In the Bremen area, although it contained a dozen parishes, there was always only one uniform costume, which, if at all, may have differed from each other in only very minor details between the individual peasants and villages.
On the basis of the recorded writings of Heinrich Hoops and Johann Focke , who recorded and published the last knowledge of the “Bremen rural costume” at the beginning of the 20th century, drawings by the Bremen landscape painter Johann Georg Walte and those still in the Bremen State Museum for Art and cultural history ( Focke Museum ) existing and preserved pieces of costume, this costume can be reconstructed.
The traditional costumes, which are described in more detail below, were only worn by the peasant population until the middle of the 19th century and then discarded in favor of urban, bourgeois fashion . The pictures show reconstructed pieces of traditional costumes.
The women's costumes
Over the dark underskirt, the women wear the solid, narrow and colorfully striped ankle-length wool skirt , which is also called " Wullaken " in Bremen . The colors of the individual wool skirts are different; At the bottom edge of these skirts are covered on the inside with an approximately 30 cm high pile of brightly patterned cotton. Both skirts have a fabric circumference of just over three meters. An apron with small patterns , made of different materials such as silk , linen , wool or cotton , covers at least half of the skirt. The ties are made of the apron fabric and are closed with a bow. A tight-fitting brown or black calico jacket with long, narrow sleeves, a short stand-up collar and a short lap is worn on the upper body. This jacket is closed with a concealed hook and eye strip. A small patterned silk scarf with a plucked fringe is worn tightly around the neck and knotted at the front.
The hat, which is called the “ Hullen Hube ” in the Bremen region , is the most valuable part of the women's costume. It consists of two parts: the Hull and the Hube. The "Hube" is a finely pleated, strongly starched chamber cloth (finest linen batiste ) in a wide hood shape, which, when put on, protrudes a hand's breadth in front of the wearer's face. At the front, the bonnet has a six to eight centimeter wide bobbin lace, the so-called Pöttjeskante or Fedderspitze. These show flower pots or vases in the motif. The “Hulle”, which sits on the wearer's hair knot above the bonnet , is almost hemispherical and consists of silk in different colors that correspond to the general color rules of the costume. The ends of a flowered silk ribbon, which visually surrounds the cover and ends with a bow , fall down on the wearer's back. On special, festive occasions, such as weddings , christenings , harvest festivals or the Lord's Supper , golden or silver hulls, the ribbons of which show narrow, bare vertical stripes at equal intervals, are put on the costume. Dark, plain cotton stockings and plain, flat, low-cut black leather shoes are worn.
Rural costumes from the old parish of Blumenthal in the Bremen countryside, first half of the 19th century
Rear view of a peasant costume from rural Bremen
The men's costumes
In Bremen, too, men wear knee breeches made of black leather or woolen cloth and which are closed at the front with a large flap. The trousers are held in place by simple suspenders . A linen or cotton shirt in traditional cut with a high stand-up collar is worn on the upper body . The shirt shows the wearer's embroidered monogram . Over it you wear the double-breasted high-necked vest with a stand-up collar, which is, however, slightly shorter than the shirt. The front of the vests is made of silk, wool or cotton e.g. B. made in different stripe patterns; the back is made of simple fabric. Overall, the whole vest is lined with a linen or cotton fabric. The vest is closed with silver or fabric-covered buttons, depending on how much wealth the wearer has. The short jacket with the very long sleeves is, like the vest, double-breasted, with larger silver buttons to close, but has no stand-up collar. The upper material is made of wool in blue, brown or black. The jacket is lined with a cotton fabric. A colorful, differently checked silk scarf is knotted over the shirt collar as a tie. The head is covered by the large round, wide-brimmed peasant hat or the blue pointed cap (in the house). The costume includes dark woolen knee-high stockings and black leather shoes with silver buckles .
Pointed cap of the traditional Bremen rural costume
The costume jewelry
The only poor piece of silver jewelry of the rural population in the Bremen countryside was the heart-shaped clasp that was worn by men and women on the front of the shirt. Visible to the outside, the clasp appeared little or not at all because it was covered by other items of clothing. The men also wear a silver pocket watch on their waistcoats.
Heart-shaped silver clasp, Northern Germany
Collections
The Bremen State Museum for Art and Cultural History (Focke Museum) has a collection that shows old hoods and a few pieces of traditional costume (e.g. knee breeches, waistcoats, ...) from the Bremen countryside. A small selection of the Hullen-Huben is on display in the Mittelbüren house. All other traditional costumes are now in storage and thus protected from environmental influences.
Even in the very early years, thanks to Johann Focke, the Focke Museum was one of the north German museums that dealt intensively with the rural lifestyle and traditional costumes. In addition to textiles, the collection also includes jewelry and accessories from many traditional costume areas in Lower Saxony.
literature
- Ammann, Hartwig: Yesterday still a village (2nd part), essay by Mrs. Hermanna Schierholz, geb. Kaemena about traditional costumes and Bremen hoods. 125 years of the new church “St. Johann zu Oberneuland ” . Editor: Self-published, Evangelical Church Oberneuland, Bremen 1984
- Architects and engineers association: Bremen and its buildings (under: The farmhouse). Published by Carl Schünemann , Bremen 1900
- DelTesta, Luise: The days of Lower Saxony's folk costumes are numbered in Hans Müller-Brauel : Photographs, Zeven 1990
- Entholt, Kurt: Oberneuland , Carl Schünemann Verlag, Bremen 1969
- Focke, Johann: The Hullen-Huben and the Bremen rural costume . In: Lower Saxony magazine for people and heritage protection in words and images, Bremen 1919/1920, pp. 264–269.
- Hägermann, Johann: Home book of the Bremen Werderland based on the history of the communities Grambke and Büren by Heinrich Hoops (1905), publisher Johann Hägermann, Bremen, 1951
- Hollanders, Sophie: Oberneuland - pictures from old chests . Verlag Heinrich Döll & Co. , Bremen 1981
- Hoops, Heinrich: History of the communities Grambke and Büren in the Bremen area . Commissioned by J. Morgenbesser, Bremen 1905
- State Costume Association of Lower Saxony: Traditional Costumes Today - 2004 . Traditional costume calendar, September monthly. Published by: Lower Saxony State Costume Association, Verden / Aller 2003
- State costume association Lower Saxony: traditional costumes today - 2007 . Traditional costume calendar, monthly sheet January. Published by: Lower Saxony State Costume Association, Verden / Aller 2006
- Kretschmer, Prof. Albert: German folk costumes . Rheingauer Verlagsgesellschaft mb H., Eltville am Rhein, 1977 (original edition published by JG Bach's Verlag, Leipzig)
- Peßler, Dr. Wilhelm: Lower Saxony costume book . Theodor Schulze's bookshop, Hanover 1922
- Schmidt-Barrien, Heinrich: Altbremen - Von den Tagbaren and their environment , Volume 5 under women's clothing, Verlag Heinrich Döll & Co., Bremen 1975
- Zock, Michael: The folk dance group “De Blomendaler” and the Bremen rural costume (1st part). Published in Utkiek - Outlook , Verbandsorgan Landestrachtenverband Niedersachsen, Verden / Aller June 2000
- Zock, Michael: The folk dance group “De Blomendaler” and the Bremen rural costume (2nd part). Published in Utkiek - Outlook , Verbandsorgan Landestrachtenverband Niedersachsen, Verden / Aller December 2000
Imagery
- Architects and Engineers Association: Bremen and its buildings . (under: The Farmhouse); Carl Schünemann , Bremen 1900.
- Wilhelm Dehlwes: The village of Borgfeld and its inhabitants . (Pictures by Johann Georg Walte ); Dedicated to the Agricultural Association Borgfeld and the surrounding area on its centenary in 1967, Bremen 1967.
- Hermann Faltus, Lothar Klimek : Borgfeld - an old rural community in Bremen . (Pictures by Johann Georg Walte); Published for the 750th anniversary of Borgfeld in 1985, editor and publisher Wilhelm Dehlwes, Bremen 1985.
- Werner Kloos : The old Bremen . Pictures and city views, Carl Schünemann Verlag, Bremen 1978.
- FW Kohl: The market place in Bremen . Colored lithograph from 1847.
- Hans Müller-Brauel: Photograph of a woman with a Hullen-Hube . Owned by: Museum Kloster Zeven.
- Wolfgang Schwarze: Old City Views of Bremen . Kunst und Wohnen Verlag GmbH, Wuppertal 1977
- Johann Georg Walte: Pencil drawing "Blumenthal in 1839" . Bremen State Museum for Art and Cultural History (Focke Museum).
- Hans Wegener: Nice old Bremen in engravings and lithographs . Friedrich Trüjen Verlag, Bremen.