Display case 3

This figure is based on an altarpiece in St. Lorenzen ob Murau. The image also features in the Book of Styrian Tracht as a colour sketch by Konrad Mautner. Since the study project Unheimlich heimisch run by the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology at the University of Graz in 2016, the mannequin created by Alexander Silveri has also been known in-house as ‘Quasimodo’. Apparently, his appearance was reminiscent of popular depictions of the well-known fictional character in Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

His clothing, created mainly by Melitta Maieritsch, consisted of leather wrapped shoes, foot patches, loden leg warmers, a tunic of brown loden with a narrow leather belt, and a Gugel—a hood worn primarily by shepherds.

The figure of the Hunter around 1330 is based on an illustration in the manuscript Chrysostomus supra Mattheum held at Seckau Abbey. It shows a hunter hunting deer. The mannequin, made by Alexander Silveri and dressed by Melitta Maieritsch, underwent several changes over time: for example, it originally had a hood similar to that of the Upper Styrian Shepherd.

A change of clothes

Between 1985 and 1999, however, this figure wore completely different clothes. The then scientific director of the museum, Maria Lackner-Kundegraber, dressed him in a blue cotton apron, a white shirt with dark trousers and a hat. As the last figure in the Trachtensaal, the Styrian Farmer in his 1970 working garb was an indication of the contemporary focus in folk studies at that time. When the entire museum was redesigned for the reopening in 2003, a process that included reconstructing the Trachtensaal of the 1940s, the Styrian Farmer once again became the Hunter around 1330, and he continues to wear his own clothes—everything except the Gugel (hood).

The figure of the Scythe Smith is reconstructed from a fresco in the church of St. Marein near Knittelfeld. The fresco was copied in 1930 by Fritz Silberbauer with oil paint on canvas and is part of the collection of the Folk Life Museum. It shows the scythe smith's facial features as well as his tools and clothing. This consists of loden leg warmers, leather shoes with pointed toes, a shoulder cape, and a leather apron with a tunic over the top. The costume was made by Melitta Maieritsch and by a shoemaker and hat maker. The white felt hat is also based on the fresco and is a reconstruction dating from the 1930s.

The profession of scythe smith had great importance from the Middle Ages onwards, since the production of scythes was an important branch of historical iron processing. Clothing as clean as that on the mannequin was probably only seen on Sundays or on special occasions. The work of these craftsmen was sweaty and dirty.

The Peasant Girl stands out above all because of her colourful clothing, which corresponds to a calendar picture of the month of June in a St. Lambrecht Breviary from the end of the 15th century. Melitta Maieritsch also made this garment according to instructions by Viktor Geramb. The striking colour of the dress—originally a green, but altered due to light damage in the first decades it was on display—was reserved for merchants, bankers and the nobility in the Middle Ages.

A new face

Originally, the figure had a head with chin-length, reddish-blond hair worn loose. This head was replaced in the mid 1980s—since then, she has had a head that used to belong to the Peasant Woman from the Upper Mur Valley based on a depiction of St. Notburga. The hair is adorned with a wreath of paper flowers, also known as a Schapel. This is a girl's or bride's wreath, which—like the golden decorations of crescent moon and stars on the red bib—is based on the drawing of the calendar page for June.

The figures of the Upper Styrian Woman and the Upper Styrian Man in Church Dress from 1636 are based on a votive picture from the pilgrimage church of Maria Rehkogel near Bruck an der Mur. In this picture, the couple is seen kneeling and praying, with a rosary in their hands.

The mannequin was made by Alexander Silveri, the clothing by Melitta Maieritsch. A special feature of this representation of Tracht is the hat of the Upper Styrian woman—a so-called ‘Krimskrams’ with a section made of woven straw. The hat is not a replica but was acquired by Theodor Ferstner in the 19th century and entered the museum’s collection in 1921. Bourgeois elements were added to the clothing of the Upper Styrian Woman in Church Dress. These include the ruff and the jacket—a Schäubl.

The figurines of the Upper Styrian Man and Upper Styrian Woman in Church Dress from 1636 are based on a votive image from the pilgrimage church of Maria Rehkogel near Bruck an der Mur. In this picture, the couple is seen kneeling and praying, with a rosary in their hands.

The mannequin was made by Alexander Silveri and the clothing was reconstructed by Melitta Maieritsch on on Geramb’s instructions. His clothing, like that of the Upper Styrian woman, displays bourgeois elements—thus Geramb speaks of ‘influences of the German Bürgerschaube’, a type of coat, when referring to the jacket. The neck collar—called a Beffchen—also goes back to a bourgeois style of dress from the Reformation period.