Plumeau
A plumeau (derived from French : plume = feather ) is a bedspread , but it can also refer to a feather duster or a plume ( e.g. on a soldier's helmet).
Plumeaus, duvets , duvets or also called balloon or duvet beds are particularly suitable for sleeping in an unheated bedroom . Down and feathers with their fine branches and their millions of air chambers keep the body temperature without accumulating body heat . They absorb the released body moisture (up to 1.5 liters of water vapor per night) during sleep and release it again when airing out in the morning. Even when the sleeper gets out of bed , they retain heat for a long time. The return is therefore very pleasant. "Plumeaus" are still among the best and most popular bedding products .
history
From the 18th century onwards, plumeaus first came into fashion among the upper classes, especially the nobility . They were considered luxurious because only this group of people could afford such expensive materials. In order to lie softly, the feather beds were also used as "under beds". In this way, the comfort of lying on the hard sacks filled with seaweed, reeds, straw or chaff, which served as mattresses until the early modern era , could be improved. The expression "take it easy" still bears witness to this today.
The name "Plumeau" comes from the courtly world of the Baroque and Rococo , in which France was the cultural leader. The term "Plümo" has survived to this day in the Rhineland , southern Germany and Austria . Especially in Viennese , “Plümo” is still a common term for duvet today .
literature
- Pascal Dibie : How to make a bed, 1989, Stuttgart
- Josef Kern: "How to make a bed ...", comments on the subject of the bedroom, in: Bayerische Blätter f. Folklore, NF 4 (2002) Ht. 1
