RandomGuy
09-22-2008, 12:44 PM
Sacrilege of Chinese Lederhosen Clouds Oktoberfest
The Munich Oktoberfest, the annual showcase of Bavarian culture, got off to a rousing start with almost a million visitors downing 450,000 liters of beer over the opening weekend. But folk societies are warning that the region’s proud heritage is under attack from cheap Lederhosen made in China, India and Eastern Europe.
...
“We produce in the Czech Republic and Poland and the fabrics for the Dirndls come from Italy, China and Turkey,” Harald Rupp of the textile firm Spieth und Wensky, which supplies Dirndl fashions to Munich stores, told Die Welt newspaper. And the leather for its Lederhosen doesn’t come from deer shot on misty mornings in Bavarian forests, but from Italy and India.
For the protectors of Bavarian heritage, that is sacrilege.
The folk costumes worn by many locals to the Oktoberfest are “yuppie outfits” that have nothing to do with original Bavarian dress, says Otto Dufter, chairman of the Bavarian Federation of Folk Costume Societies. “Our societies only use the domestic Lederhosen makers, we don’t use any pseudo-costumes made abroad,” he told SPIEGEL ONLINE.
Hans Lehrer, a member of the Munich-based Isargau folk costume society and a former spokesman for the federation, said: “Folk costumes should be made where they’re worn. I’ve got a problem with imported folk dress because heritage refers to one’s homeland. If people buy Lederhosen made in Romania just because that’s cheaper, I’m opposed to that.”...
Full article here at the English Language version of Der Speigel (http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,579729,00.html)
The Munich Oktoberfest, the annual showcase of Bavarian culture, got off to a rousing start with almost a million visitors downing 450,000 liters of beer over the opening weekend. But folk societies are warning that the region’s proud heritage is under attack from cheap Lederhosen made in China, India and Eastern Europe.
...
“We produce in the Czech Republic and Poland and the fabrics for the Dirndls come from Italy, China and Turkey,” Harald Rupp of the textile firm Spieth und Wensky, which supplies Dirndl fashions to Munich stores, told Die Welt newspaper. And the leather for its Lederhosen doesn’t come from deer shot on misty mornings in Bavarian forests, but from Italy and India.
For the protectors of Bavarian heritage, that is sacrilege.
The folk costumes worn by many locals to the Oktoberfest are “yuppie outfits” that have nothing to do with original Bavarian dress, says Otto Dufter, chairman of the Bavarian Federation of Folk Costume Societies. “Our societies only use the domestic Lederhosen makers, we don’t use any pseudo-costumes made abroad,” he told SPIEGEL ONLINE.
Hans Lehrer, a member of the Munich-based Isargau folk costume society and a former spokesman for the federation, said: “Folk costumes should be made where they’re worn. I’ve got a problem with imported folk dress because heritage refers to one’s homeland. If people buy Lederhosen made in Romania just because that’s cheaper, I’m opposed to that.”...
Full article here at the English Language version of Der Speigel (http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,579729,00.html)