Alpine, Tyrolean, Bavarian Hats

[pplepic]

It's driving me crazy, but I can't find anybody who knows if there is a purpose to the boar's brush often seen on these hats. Maybe it's just decoration, like a feather. If any lounge lizards know, please post. Thanks.

 

[Bob Smalser]

It's driving me crazy, but I can't find anybody who knows if there is a purpose to the boar's brush often seen on these hats.

They originated as hunting trophies, and vestiges of that tradition remain in force in what is a rather strict etiquette for hunting game animals in Germany.

Besides the forstmeister guides, hunting leases and permits, 30 years ago when I was stationed there one also had to wear the correct clothes and use the correct firearm. Green wool loden cloth and break-action, scoped buchsen or doppelbuchsen remain the norms, I believe.

The hat decoration is dipped in the blood of the animal killed and worn on the hat.

 

[pplepic]

Thanks Bob. You made my day, even if the thought of wearing a hat dripping a deer's blood doe'sn't sound to great. But it makes sense. I love those forest greens for hats, etc., but I understand that at one time, in France, people who went bankrupt had to wear a green hat. I guess I could live with that.

The first hat I picked up was an old fedora from Towncraft, the old Penney brand. Marked 3X Beaver. It's still in great shape. But being a Penney brand, I reckoned it was a fairly cheap hat. The sweatband shows a little wear and the band is a bit faded, and I didn't appreciate the hat much at the time. I just wore it. But now that I'm more hat-conscious, I see that this hat today would cost at the very least some $350. And it's still got many years of wear left in it! I like and appreciate it more all the time.

I watched the inauguration and was pleasantly surprised to see a great many hats in the crowds. :eusa_clap

 

[Bob Smalser]

A classic German painting titled The Forester's Home, circa 1890.

His boots are at the foot of the schrank, his loden coat is draped over the chair, his rifle-shotgun drilling is hanging from a wall rack beneath his work cap and his felt hat is on the writing desk. Two dachsunds and a drahthaar watch his frau tend the fire in the large tile stove.

 

[BellyTank]

"Gamsbart"

That's the word.
Chamois(goat) beard but made from various animal parts.


B
T

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

His boots are at the foot of the schrank, his loden coat is draped over the chair, his rifle-shotgun drilling is hanging from a wall rack beneath his work cap and his felt hat is on the writing desk. Two dachsunds and a drahthaar watch his frau tend the fire in the large tile stove.

Aber hallo, Bob, you're colorful at making german words mix understandably well in the anglo-saxon text... those tile ovens (kachelofen)... great they are (and expensive, too).

 

[Swagman]

in France, people who went bankrupt had to wear a green hat.

Wear your credit report.

In today's economy, think of all the green hats.

 

[Haversack]

Gamsbaerte are just one of a category of hat decorations traditional to hunting hats of Austria and Bavaria. "Hutschmuck", or hat jewelry also include a wide variety of feathers and cockades. Some have specific meanings within the traditional hunting community, others are simply panache for the wearer's pleasure. Some examples can be seen here:

http://www.blumtritt.com/index_e.html

Unlike many felted wool hats, I have found that traditional loden wool hats make exceptionally good hats for the rain. Water just rolls off them so they don't get saturated, and they don't fall apart. There is a German department store chain specifically for the hunting community called Frankonia-Jagd which has a good variety of them:

http://www.frankonia.de/shop//_/sea...ortiment/Jagdbekleidung+f%FCr+Ihn/search.html

Hunters in Germany are a specific sub-culture which has many layers of custom and ritual associated with it. Some are quite ancient.

Haversack.