Costumes of Vorarlberg, Austria, part 4. Minor Valleys

 

Hello all, 

Today I will continue my overview of the Costumes of Vorarlberg, Austria, by taking a look at the minor valleys in the east of the province. None of these have ancient preserved trachten, but each has developed a new tracht for itself. Some are Walser, but not all. 

Tannberg, 

region 5

This is a historical and cultural region, and has no political status today. It is inhabited by Walser. The image at the head of the article is from Lech, the main municipality of this region. You can see many of the typical features of the costumes of Vorarlberg in this tracht. This includes the embroidered plastron worn under the bodice. Also the standard hats of this province are in evidence. 

https://www.warth-schroecken.at/en/summer/traditional-costume-group-amp-childrens-traditional-costume-group.html

Klostertal

region 6

This valley provides the easiest road to Tirol. It is not inhabited by Walser. There are a couple of old drawings of the tracht of this valley. 

This image shows the Bregenzerwald costume on the left, and the Klostertal costume on the right. 

This is the new tracht as worn today. The collarette seems to be optional for married women. 

Silbertal

region 7a

Silbertal is a valley in the northeast part of Montafon. On the map above, it is the valley just south of Klostertal. The only thing that distinguishes this valley from the rest of Montafon is that its inhabitants are Walser. The tracht is the same as in the other parts of Montafon. 

Brandnertal

region 8

This valley extends to the south from Bludenz, and lies west of Montafon. It is inhabited by Walser. It has only two municipalities; Brand at the head of the valley, and Bürserberg lower down. 

Brand

Bürserberg

Laternsertal

region 9

Laterns lies in a side valley to the northwest of Grosse Walser Tal. The valley opens up into the main valley of the Rhine. The community in this valley are also Walser. The new tracht is based on a doll which was found in the community. 

Ebnit

region 11, part

Ebnit is an isolated community found to the north of Laterns, in the west of the Rhinetal, near the border with Bregenzerwald. It lies in a side valley which runs southeast from Dornbirn. The people in this community are also Walser. 

That concludes this segment of my overview of Vorarlberg, Austria. 

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative. 

Roman K

email: rkozakand@aol.com

Source Material:

'Die Trachten in Vorarlberg', Ulrike Bitschnau et al, Bregenz 2022

'Alpentrachten Unserer Zeit', Karl Wolf et al, Wien, 1937

'Trachten in Österreich', Rudolf Fochler, Wels, 1980

'Die Goldene Bodensee-Radhaube', Michael Selb, Wien, 2011

'Österreichische Trachtendirndl', Maria Strnad, Wien, 1950

'Tracht in Österreich', Franz C. Lipp et al, Wien, 1984

'Ostmark Fibel', Kuno Brandauer, Munich, 1941