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The clothing for this figure was based on a watercolour by Johann Lederwasch and underwent only minimal changes over time. The ‘disc hat’ is conspicuous; because of its size, it was rarely practical at work and was therefore taken off. Under the disc hat sits a Kärntner (or Karner, meaning Carinthian) Bodenhäuberl, a type of bonnet whose band encloses the topknot. These usually ornate traditional bonnets are reminiscent of 18th- century middle-class fashions originating in England. According to Geramb, they were replaced by black silk headscarves from around the mid-19th century.

Colourful mixture

The individual items of clothing were collected at different times and from different sources: the spencer was purchased in 1885 for 2 gulden, the fichu from the Passail region was acquired 50 years later for 5 shillings from Kapfer, a second-hand dealer in Eggenberg. The stockings come from a farmhouse in the Obdach region and were also purchased by the museum in 1935 via A. Thalhammer from Obdach (Murau district). The original disc hat—a gift—was exchanged in the 1980s for a better preserved piece from the collection of the Folk Life Museum.

The figure of the Upper Styrian Gentlewoman is not only conspicuous for its strikingly light complexion—possibly the result of the most recent restoration in around 2000—but also for its too large clothing. The skirt and spencer were sewn together to form a whole, and yet they fit poorly. Was different clothing originally intended for this figure, or had the artist not received exact measurements? Whatever the case, the length of the skirt points to a married woman, and the clothing more generally to the influence of bourgeois culture in the rural social order.

Faded

The silk fabric was originally purple, but the colours have faded due to receiving too much light during the first decades of being on display in the Trachtensaal. Therefore, when the Trachtensaal was reopened in 2003, the apron was reconstructed in detail by Marie Reisinger, a seamstress at the Steirisches Heimatwerk, working from the damaged original. A new fichu was also put on the figure and its more intense colours are clearly visible.

The clothing for this figure is probably based on a watercolour by Johann Lederwasch from 1790. Parts of it are reconstructions made by Melitta Maieritsch, commissioned by Viktor Geramb. Other pieces have been gathered from various collections: the neckerchief was a gift from the central laundry of the Graz Red Cross, and the bonnet under the disc hat was owned by a Mrs Gölles-Kelcher, also from Graz. According to the museum inventory, her husband had taken this and other bonnets from a house on the Italian front during World War I and brought them to Graz. The circumstances of these acquisitions remain unclear. According to Geramb, the shoes are ‘coarse Birgler, still dyed red at the edges of the soles,’ i.e. footwear for mountain areas, and he commissioned the reconstruction. Geramb described the white apron as ‘typical’ for dairymaids.

Stereotypical gender images

The figure of the Enns Valley Dairymaid can be understood as an example of the reflection of rural gender images. She is indeed typical of how girls are  represented in depictions of Tracht: the soft facial features, her light-coloured clothing and the shorter skirt emphasize the image of a young person. The fact that the figure of the dairymaid in particular embodies a young woman corresponds to romantic descriptions and depictions that were widespread in the 19th century of the peaceful, healthy, even free life on the alpine pastures, and of the youthful dairymaid who possessed an eroticism described as natural. Even back then, this popular image of the clean, beautiful young woman prompted curious people make the climb to the mountain pastures.

The figure of the Upper Styrian ‘Hammer Mistress’ is one of those models that are perhaps best understood upon closer inspection. She’s certainly an interesting figure: the bodiced skirt, the silk apron and the fichu were owned by Anna Maria Zeilinger (1795–1867). She wore these clothes in 1825 as a bride at her wedding to the Hammerherr, or ‘Hammer Master’, Johann Alois Zeilinger in Eppenstein near Judenburg. Eppenstein was important in the manufacture of scythes and sickles, which were sold as far away as central Germany, Switzerland and Transylvania in the 18th century. The Zeilinger family owned the Eppenstein scythe factory.

Not a complete ensemble

In 1931 Martha Zeilinger, probably a relative, sold the bridal outfit to the museum. The shoes, however, are not original; they are faithful reproductions of Anna Zeilinger's bridal shoes commissioned by the museum. The golden bonnet from Mürzhofen (district of Mürzzuschlag)—a sign of wealth and social status—was also not part of the original purchase. Rather it was bought by the Folk Life Museum in 1937 for 4 shillings from Anton Zimmermann from Graz. The original black silk spencer was exchanged for a comparable one from the museum’s collection for restoration reasons. The model shown here comes from the Schmidbauer family of Wetzelsdorf near Graz.

The figure of the Farmer from Upper Styria is also listed in the records as ‘Fohnsdorf Farmer ‘ dating from the early 19th century. The expressive facial features suggest that a real person was the model for this figurine. A painting of Tracht by Karl Ruß entitled Old Farmer from the Leoben Region shows a figure that could have served as inspiration—at least for the clothing.

Gifts from officials and literary figures

The green coat, a Haftelrock, came into the museum’s collection in 1917 as a gift from the civil servant Julius Wall from Graz.  According to the inventory, it originated from a farm between Mürzzuschlag and Spital am Semmering. These kinds of long coats were worn by older, married, also wealthier men and Geramb makes frequent mention of them for Styria in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Around 1800, men’s dress also included a hat. This could be round—as many depictions in the Book of Styrian Tracht attest. But in other regions, such as in Württemberg, three-pointed hats were also part of the Tracht canon. The imposing hat of the Farmer from Upper Styria was added to the collection in 1922 and was a gift from Hans Kloepfer, a doctor and writer from Gössnitz near Köflach, with whom Viktor Geramb had close associations. Today Kloepfer is controversial because of his sympathetic attitude towards Nazism.

A watercolour by Johann Lederwasch probably served as a model for the clothing of the Enns Valley Farmer. According to Geramb, the long loden coat shows an older form, which is also called a Bauernschaube. The wide trousers are made of Rass, a mixed fabric of wool and linen. They resemble a type of trousers widely worn in the 18th century—the ‘culotte’—which had developed from the court fashions of the 17th century. According to Geramb, the shoes ‘feature the high Styrian lace-up boot shape of the 17th century.’

An interesting accessory, but hardly visible, is the ‘money cat’: a leather belt with built-in money storage. It came to the museum in 1913 via the doctor and writer Hans Kloepfer and Hysel, a specialist teacher from Köflach. Kloepfer is controversial today because of his sympathetic attitude towards Nazism.