When growing up in Franconia, my parents took me to nearby villages for their Folk Parades. Franconia is in northern Bavaria, many of their costumes or Tracht have their roots from the Baroque period. There are small variations in pattern, color of the traditional clothing, also hair style, depending on the area.

The “Splendor of the Tracht” is celebrated in Ochsenfurter Gau (county of Ochsenfurt). The richly decorated Tracht of Lower Franconia is not without reason one of the most famous folk clothing in Bavaria. And to the most changeable, depending on processing and color of individual components, it can be an expression of joy or sadness.

Below: Ochsenfurt Tracht Lower Franconia (by Wikimedia)

Fabrics such as cashmere, satin or silk and the magnificent garnet cross-garlands speak to the prosperity of the farmer’s wife. Components of the men’s costume are usually the Frankenhut tricorne and/ or with a drawstring and the knotted scarf.

Below: Ochsenfurt 1960, Franconia Tracht (by Wikimedia)

There is more diversity in women’s clothing. Consistent is the wearing of bodice skirt and apron.

Below: Heimat- und Trachtenverein „D’Kreebauern“ Forchheim (by Wikimedia)

In the summer, a colorful shawl is usually used. In the winter, the Mützen and a long-sleeved jacket is worn. There are various hoods in the headgear, but also colorful headscarves.

The traditional clothing in Franconia are characterized by small-scale diversity. This is also because the population is confessionally mixed due to the political conditions in the Franconian Reichskreis until the end of the Holy Roman Empire

Below: Volkstrachtenverein Neundorf (by Wikimedia)

The Tracht differs in their character, the clothing of the Catholics are usually more colorful and conspicuous than those in the Protestant areas. While there is a greater agreement in the cut, the colors are usually more muted and the jewelry kept simpler.

An old center of the Franconia Tracht is the former imperial village Sennfeld near Schweinfurt. Franconian costumes have always been worn on the Sennfelder and Gochsheimer festivals.

Since elsewhere in Franconia the costume-preserving associations often only cultivated the Upper Bavarian mountain costume, in recent decades, as in many areas of Bavaria, local costumes and peculiarities of the old are kept alive, or newer ones revived to the historical traditions.