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Until recently, this figure wore a black silk headscarf tied at the back, as was common in Upper Austria, the Salzkammergut and the Upper Enns Valley from the second half of the 19th century. In her right hand she held a prayer book. In combination with the garments purchased by the museum in the 1910s and earlier—a woollen skirt with silk apron, a patterned bodice and a velvet spencer—she represented a wealthy woman in clothes for high days and holidays.

Since 2022, the Schladming Woman has worn a fashionable hat in the colours and (unofficial) logo of the Folk Life Museum, and in her left hand she holds a source of energy in the form of an energy gel. These are contemporary objects that point to change and transformations in fashion and lifestyle. Her face, a mirror, invites us to look into ourselves: Where between tradition and modernity would you locate yourself?

Enigmatic figure

The mannequin of the Enns Valley ‘Einleger’ has repeatedly raised question marks for more recent historical research. It is the only mannequin whose body is made of papier-mâché—with the exception of the hands, feet and head, which are made of pine wood. The worked face also differs from the other figures: it shows deep wrinkles and is less model-like.

As a figure, the Enns Valley ‘Einleger’ tells of old age, poverty and care: elderly servants who could no longer work and therefore could no longer remain on the farm, moved to the community where they had right of domicile. Here they were not always welcome, since the farmers had to provide the ‘Einleger’ with board and lodging for a certain number of days depending on the size of their farm, or even with clothing. Their clothes were often worn out and shabby. The clothing of the ‘Einleger’ mannequin was purchased by the museum between 1913 and 1932 from merchants in Mariazell, the Tauern region and Schladming.

The mannequin was made by Hans Mauracher. Sepp Walter, director of the Folk Life Museum from 1963 to 1980, recalled that Geramb was not convinced by this figure. Rather he wished for stylised, less expressive faces, like those Alexander Silveri would create

Who is the woman in the photo?

With this figure, Viktor Geramb wanted to depict a ‘peasant woman from the Styrian Tauern dressed in her Sunday best’. She wears a silk Leibkittel—a type of dirndl with a close-fitting bodice—a shirt made of fine linen and a Reindlhut made of rabbit hair felt. Geramb described this type of low hat as being found in Styria since about 1840. These items of clothing were acquired at different times and from different sellers. The hat, for example, was purchased for the collection in 1915 from Judenburg.

According to museum director Geramb, the artist also carved the head based on an actual ‘peasant woman’. In the archives of the Folk Life Museum are two photographs of a woman labelled on the back with ‘Silveri’. Taken from the front and at eye level, as well as from the side, they are reminiscent of the anthropological photographs of the 1930s. In any case, they give clues to the working method of the young sculptor, who used the medium of photography as a model. However, no information about the woman has survived—which corresponds to the photo-documentary practice of early ethnography.