Display case 4

Of interest to folk studies

The figure was assembled or reconstructed from the illustration on a songsheet from the late 17th century. The Graz merchant Adolph Kroath had acquired the sheet at a ‘rag market’; it was passed on to Konrad Mautner, who as a folk song researcher was interested in the text. Mautner noted that the term Jodl was often used as a collective name for the rural population. Jodl is also translated in the literature as ‘noisy man’, ‘fool’, or ‘rude lout’. However, Konrad Mautner doubted that the ‘lad of thirty years’ was at home in the ‘noble Steyermark’, as the song text proclaims. Similar characters, according to later proponents of folk studies, were more often found in Bavaria, Tyrol, Salzburg or Upper Austria than in Styria. The Eisenerzer Bergreihen of 1655 tell of ‘Fäusthelden’ (‘fist heroes’) or ‘Räiffer’ (‘brawlers’) in Upper Styria and Upper Austria. These characters sometimes travelled for miles to duel with their peers at dances or weddings. In general, village events such as church fairs were frequently accompanied by brawls.

Feathers as a sign

For Geramb, the shape of the hat was a precursor of various later peasant men's hats and was considered a barometer of mood: depending on how the hat was put on or how the feather decoration was stuck in, this indicated whether the person was up for a brawl. Thus, it is further said in the Bergreihen: whoever ‘(...) wore a crane feather on their hats, then he must address two of his opponents, and let them have it, as they say’. Crane feathers were described only by the author of this text, Matthias Abele von und zu Lilienberg. Konrad Mautner mentioned grouse feathers. For the hat of the figure in the Trachtensaal, Viktor Germab used the feathers of a domestic chicken.

A detail on a shooting target in the collection of the Folk Life Museum—  previously held in the Cultural History Collection of the Universal Museum Joanneum—served as a model for this reconstruction of women’s clothing from the second half of the 17th century. The garments were commissioned by Geramb and made by Melitta Maieritsch. The only exceptions are the shoes, which were made by an unknown shoemaker from Graz. Until the redesign in 1985, the figure wore a white linen bonnet.

White not without reason

The white apron was common for waitresses and dairymaids—according to Viktor Geramb in the Book of Styrian Tracht. Maria Kundegraber, a folk studies expert at the museum in the 1980s, had shown that the apron became widespread in the territory of Styria from the middle of the 15th century and, as a working apron, was usually white and made of coarse linen—for cost reasons and because it was easier to clean. White aprons were also part of festive garb until the 18th century. The white apron remained a symbol of status, for example for dairymaids, until into the 19th century.

The Upper Styrian Woman from Traboch was modelled on a votive image from the community of the same name in the district of Leoben—as were the adjacent mannequin and clothing of the Upper Styrian Man from Traboch. Except for the hat with the woven straw section known as a ‘Krimskrams’—a donation to the museum from Th. Ferstner—the clothes were reconstructed by Melitta Maieritsch. According to Viktor Geramb, parts of the clothing are derived from Spanish fashion. These influences are most obvious on the hat and ruff, also known as Krös. The ruff was newly made in 1985 by a member of museum staff, Ursula Kainz, from cotton fabric with wire reinforcement.

The Upper Styrian Man from Traboch was modelled on a votive image from the community of the same name in the district of Leoben—as were the adjacent mannequin and clothing of the Upper Styrian Woman from Traboch.

All garments are reconstructions commissioned by Viktor Geramb. The tunic and stockings are made of light grey and green loden. The tunic, stockings and ruff were made by Melitta Maieritsch. Ursula Kainz, a member of staff at the museum, made the ruffed collar closure in 1985. The lederhosen and leather shoes were made by unknown producers in Graz.

The figure is a reconstruction based on a depiction of St. Isidore on an oil painting in the church at Saurau in the district of Murau. St. Isidore was considered the patron saint of the peasant population and was also called the ‘Styrian Lord God’ in some regions. Viktor Geramb wrote that the long green coat with red lining corresponded to peasant clothing in Styria around the mid-18th century while the black neck tie (Beffchen) dated back to the fashions of the Reformation period.

The figure was dressed in clothing reconstructed by Melitta Maieritsch and by unknown lederhosen and shoemakers from Graz. The ‘Hamburg stockings’, as they were known, were reconstructed by a knitter from Graz who is also not known by name. The import of stockings from Hamburg is already documented by 1660. In Styria, they were first widespread in wealthy circles, and around 1700 in the rural population as well.

The figure is based on a depiction of St. Notburga in an oil painting at the church of Saurau near Murau in western Styria, as is the Peasant Man from the Upper Mur Valley, who corresponds to St. Isidore. St. Notburga is venerated by the rural population above all as the patron saint and assistant in childbirth, livestock diseases and as a defender of rest from work. Viktor Geramb pointed out that the representation of the saint shows elements of local peasant clothing at that time. White aprons were still common in the 18th century. On Geramb's instructions, Melitta Maieritsch produced all the garments.