Many German-American festivals are opportunities to see Dirndl and Lederhosen fashions in all varieties. But it is the dance groups who can verge at the annual Steuben Parade or at many local and regional "Oktoberfests" that illustrate the multitude of traditional costumes. While native dresses prescribe who wears what, when and how, the Dirndl and Lederhosen dresses are not native dresses but folklore fashion. They are subject to fashion changes and have created a whole fashion industry.
What our Museum shows are "Trachten" - German costumes - generally limited in design to their traditional form for a given region or necessity. We have 15 colorful and wonderfully embroidered and decorated tradtional costumes on display. Their origins reach from Bavaria to Westphalia, from Fresia to the Blackforest and from former German settlements in Rumania to the Zipser Germans of the high Tatra in Slovakia.
Even though traditional costumes today have lost most of their importance and do not play a major role in their globalized and leveled society, people still wear them in many places and on special occasions. That is especially true for German-Americans who successfully are trying to keep their ethnic, culture and identities alive. With our exhibit, we are trying to support their activities and inform and educate a larger audience about the still existing varieties of German traditions and cultures living amongst German-Americans in the United States.
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