The Lederhosen and the lifestyle

What the kilt is for the Scots, the Lederhosen is for the mountain troops. What is so special about this leg dress that it eliminates age differences and unites classes? Even if not all alpine people walk around in Lederhosen, it is still considered a tribal badge, a kind of homeland certificate. The "Lederne" owes its position to a historical process that began in the late rococo period.

The history of the Lederhosen

At that time it became fashionable in courtly societies to organize farmer's weddings and shepherds' games, in which one transformed oneself into the peasantry by appropriate costuming and thereby - although still very naively - paid attention to them. In their quest for a simple life they turned their eyes to the mountains. The descriptions of traditional costumes are of particular interest. Above all, it was the Lederhosen that conveyed to the observer and the wearer a piece of mountain romanticism, the idea of originality, youthfulness and manly courage. Thus the original working clothes of the farmers and foresters became socially acceptable, which did not always meet with undivided enthusiasm among them.

But the appropriation of the people also took place on a much higher level. When Emperor Franz Josef I., during his summer stay in Bad Ischl, where he appeared in the "Kurzen" (short Lederhosen) at every suitable opportunity, it was to demonstrate his closeness to the people. This was followed by Archduke Johann, who already appeared at the beginning of the 19th century in the traditional costume of the hunters and became a symbolic figure for an entire epoch.