Traditional costumes in Switzerland

There are over 700 different traditional costumes in Switzerland . These differ not only from canton to canton, but also within the cantons, especially the women's costumes, often differ from region to region. In practically all regions, a distinction is made between holiday and weekday costumes.

Traditional costumes are no longer to be found in everyday streets in Switzerland . They are worn exclusively for festivals such as the federal festivals , the national holiday or, in some regions, for Corpus Christi processions and for cultural events such as presentations by traditional costume groups and choral societies.

Traditional costume associations and the Swiss traditional costume association

In 2015, over 16,000 members were organized in 650 traditional costume associations in Switzerland . Many of the affiliated traditional costume associations, also known as groups, primarily practice folk dance. The clubs are grouped into 26 cantonal associations. The umbrella organization is the Swiss Trachtenvereinigung STV, founded in 1926 .

Federal costume festival

Every twelve years, the Swiss National Costume Association (STV) holds a national costume meeting as a federal festival . The last time around 8,000 people in traditional costumes met at the Swiss National Costume Festival 2010 (June 4 to 6, 2010) at the invitation of the Cantonal Schwyzerische Trachtenvereinigung in Schwyz .

History of traditional costumes in Switzerland

origin

Under the costume figures are the names "Zurich, Soleure, Schaffhouse, Zurich".

Traditional costumes have been known in Switzerland for over 250 years. Most of the folk costumes at that time were part of general peasant clothing, sewn from coarse fabric for hard work in the fields and farms. Already in the 18th century there was a great variety of different costumes.

At the beginning of the 19th century, pictures with people in traditional costumes became very popular. A formal reduction and emblematization of peasant clothes took place in contemporary graphics . This was due to the political upheavals between 1798 and 1815 (downfall of the Old Confederation , the Helvetic Republic and mediation ). Wealthy foreign travelers, who toured Switzerland thanks to the emerging tourism , enjoyed the traditional costumes and bought these images as souvenirs. Josef Reinhard (1749–1829) from Lucerne was one of the most famous costume painters of his time . His 125 portraits are considered a treasure of Swiss cultural history. Collections of his works can be viewed in the Historisches Museum Bern and the Kunstmuseum Luzern .

In the course of the emerging industrialization in the 19th century, traditional costumes disappeared from everyday life in favor of urban clothes. Inexpensive factory goods replaced manual labor and in the cities women preferred to wear more elegant hoop skirts.

In return, the traditional costumes were standardized through painting. A pair of traditional costumes was assigned to each canton and 22 couples appeared in traditional costumes at carnival parades and festivals. People in traditional costumes populated the Village suisse at the National Exhibition in Geneva in 1896 .

Traditional costumes become a cultural asset

The first costume festival took place in Zurich in 1898 on the initiative of the Hottingen reading circle. Fortunately, interest turned back to the historical originals. At the end of the 19th century, upper class townspeople committed themselves to saving the threatened rural culture. In 1898 the Swiss Society for Folklore was founded . Rural household items, jewelry and costumes were collected and exhibited in the Swiss National Museum , which opened in 1898 . For the parade on the occasion of the museum opening, traditional costumes were sewn according to old models. These were later included in the collection of the State Museum. It is thanks to the autodidactic researcher and co-founder of the national museum's costume collection, Julie Heierli, that the costumes were taken seriously by society as historical evidence.

In the eve of the First World War took place Swiss National Exhibition in Bern, the costume was at the center. The threat of war led to a change in attitudes towards Swiss cultural assets. With the wearing of the costume one showed the connection to the fatherland and soon the traditional clothes were considered as a symbol of the homeland love.

The tasks of the Swiss Homeland Security , founded in 1906 , also included maintaining traditional costumes and folk customs. In 1926 the traditional costume movement split off from the Swiss Homeland Security and founded the Swiss Traditional Costume Association in Lucerne . In the following years, cantonal costume associations were founded throughout the country. At the same time, a careful reform of the national costume system began.

The aim of the Swiss National Costume Association was to reintroduce timeless and simple women's costumes to the rural population. The costumes should also have a socially harmonizing effect. The STV worked together with the Swiss Rural Women’s Association and thus reached the future farmers in the farmers' schools. The Swiss Heimatwerk , founded in 1930, promoted the traditional costume movement by selling local textiles.

The new costumes are created

In the 1920s, different models of new costumes were created in different regions of the country in a more or less free interpretation of the historical material. In the years 1922–1932 Julie Heierli published her main work in five volumes, “The Swiss Folk Costumes”. To date, it is the most comprehensive and historically well-founded work on the subject. Julie Heierli had a significant influence on the traditional costume movement with her purely historically based proposals for the renewal of traditional costumes and counteracted the folkloric aspect of the new traditional costume movement.

The way to the present

In the course of the Swiss National Exhibition in Zurich in 1939 and during the Second World War , the number of members of the traditional costume associations rose continuously and only fell again from the end of the 1950s. The generation change proved difficult. The need for regional and even local differentiations in traditional costumes had an invigorating effect on the traditional costume movement from the 1970s onwards, with great value being placed on the historical legitimation of traditional costumes.

The costumes today

Due to the diverse activities of the traditional costume groups such as singing (folk songs), dancing, traveling and handicrafts, traditional costumes became more and more a kind of leisure activity. This made it possible to encourage more men to wear traditional costumes.

The manufacture and wearing of traditional costumes are subject to different rules in Switzerland. One principle states that only the costume of the home or place of residence is worn. Furthermore, traditional costumes should not be borrowed or combined with other items of clothing.

The alpine costume and country house fashion is almost impossible to find in Switzerland. In the 2010s, Oktoberfest based on the Bavarian model became popular. The visitors like to wear dirndls and lederhosen , often cheap models from the discounter , and more as a disguise than out of tradition.

A permanent exhibition in the Ballenberg open-air museum shows the history of traditional costumes and their production.

Different national costumes of Switzerland

Among the most famous festive costumes in Switzerland are the black Bernese costumes with their rich silver jewelry and the Engadine costumes made of red wool. In the canton of Zurich, the Wehntaler costume with the bright blue apron and the costume of the Knonauer Amt , the Burefeufi (so called because of the apron tied in a V-shape at the back) are the most common.

The most famous men costumes are the Appenzeller Tracht with their yellow leather pants and red Chilet, the Berner Mutz , a black, short-armed, embroidered velvet jacket and the embroidered, blue Sennechutteli a Trachtenbluse central Switzerland.

Burefeufi Sunday and weekday costume (blue)

Zurich Unterländer costume

Festival costumes from Zurich and Lucerne

Appenzell costume

Federal Councilor Doris Leuthard in Freiämter festive costume as guest of honor at the Federal Costume Festival 2010 in Schwyz

Folk dancers in various traditional costumes at the 2010 Swiss National Costume Festival in Schwyz

Folk musician Hitsch Jenny in a traditional blouse (Sennenchutteli)

List of the cantonal costume associations

The websites of the cantonal costume associations give a detailed overview of the various traditional costumes in Switzerland.

Cantonal costume associations
Canton	Traditional costume association	founding year	Members	Number of costume groups	Website
Canton Zurich Zurich	Zurich traditional costume association	1928			www.trachten-zuerich.ch
Canton Bern Bern	Bernese costume association	1929		128	www.trachtenvereinigung-bern.ch
Canton lucerne Lucerne	Lucerne costume association	1927	1750	51	www.trachtenvereinigung-luzern.ch
Canton of Uri Uri	Traditional costume association Uri	1942		7th	www.trachten-uri.ch
Canton of Schwyz Schwyz	Cantonal Schwyzerische Trachtenvereinigung			14th	www.trachten-sz.ch
Canton of Obwalden Obwalden	Obwalden traditional costume and folk songs association			7th	trachten-ow.ch
Canton of Nidwalden Nidwalden	Cantonal costume association Nidwalden	1940	227	4th	www.trachtenvereinigung-nidwalden.ch
Canton of Glarus Glarus	Traditional costume association of the Canton of Glarus
Canton of Zug train	Zug Cantonal Costume Association	1941			www.zugertrachten.ch
Canton of Friborg Freiburg	Freiburg Association for Costumes and Customs				ffcc.ch
Canton of Solothurn Solothurn	Solothurn traditional costume association			20th	www.so-trachtenverband.ch
Canton of Basel-Stadt Basel city	Traditional costume association of the Canton of Basel-Stadt
Canton of Basel-Country Basel-Country	Traditional costume association Baselland	1939	400	12	www.trachtenvereinigung-bl.ch
Canton of Schaffhausen Schaffhausen	Schaffhausen Cantonal Costume Association				www.trachten-schaffhausen.ch
Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Ausserrhoden	Traditional costume association Appenzell Ausserrhoden	1926		6th	www.trachtenvereinigung-ar.ch
Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden Appenzell Innerrhoden	Traditional costume association Appenzell Innerrhoden	1936	240	1	www.trachtenverein-ai.ch/
Canton of St. Gallen St. Gallen	St. Gallic Costume Association	1927	900	35	www.stgallischetrachtenvereinigung.ch
canton of Grisons Grisons	Bündner Trachtenvereinigung	1933		26th	www.buendnertracht.ch
Kanton Aargau Aargau	Aargau traditional costume association				www.trachtenverband-aargau.ch
Canton of Thurgau Thurgau	Thurgau traditional costume association	1926		18th	www.thurgauer-trachtenvereinigung.ch
Canton of Ticino Ticino	Federazione Cantonale del Costume Ticinese	1937		17th	www.costumiticinesi.ch
Canton of Vaud Vaud	Association Cantonale du Costume Vaudois	1916		18th	www.costume-vaudois.ch
Canton of Valais Valais	Valais traditional costume association			41	www.costumes-valais.ch
Canton of Neuchâtel Neuchâtel	Société du costume neuchâtelois
Canton of Geneva Geneva	Fédération Cantonale du Costume Genevois	1930		15th	fccge.ch
Canton of Jura law	Association des costumes et coutumes de la République et Canton du Jura