Your German Great-Great-Grandparents Called...

[hsifeng]

... and wanted to let y'all know that they were rocking this look LONG before you were even born.

Let's be clear - there is nothing truly "new" under the sun. In the medieval era they dressed up like Romans for holidays, and I am sure the Romans dressed up like someone else too.

But damn, Ulm Festzug 1898 looks like it was one HELL of a party!

Comments

[hsifeng]

PS: "Hello my LJ buddies!"

[hsifeng]

Very much so! :D

[brickhousewench]

Yeah, the 19th century Germans had a hard-on for Landsknecht, It means that when you see antiques, you have to ask "which Landksnecht era is that from again? The 16th or the 19th century one?"

I amuses me greatly.

And hee! Boat jousting!!!

[hsifeng]

I would love more information on this phenomenon; it would be terrific to know just how long the crazy has been going and where and why. :)

[brickhousewench]

All I can tell you is that I was on an antique site at one point, and every single "Landsknecht" antique they had was from the 19th century. Flags, swords, drums, painted plates, beer steins. You name it, it was all what we'd call Victorian era. I think it was all part of the whole "nationalism" phase that everyone went through during the 19th century, after the boundaries started settling down in Europe and everyone got busy building a national identity. And I suspect that the Germans latched on to Landsknechts as part of that identity building.

[hsifeng]

Which is interesting, because I my understanding is that there was a back-lash against all things 'Landsknecht' in Germany post WWII (god only knows where my brain is dredging up this tidbit from) - which would make sense if it was part of a rejection of all things pre-war that lead to the conflict.