I have recently noticed a quirky and slightly camp German 'cult' - young men, often kind of geeky and or unshaven looking, dressed in smart double breasted velvet waistcoats outside a plain white shirt, and big flared dress pants and blazers as part of a suit, teamed with large brimmed velvet hats. There's a guy at the teahouse that I cook at that is often dressed like that, and I have seen quite a few around the streets, and then a few at the Hurricane festival. So what is this 'sececret brotherhood' all about?
After a bit of investigation, I was told that they are young apprentice carpenters in their traditional uniforms. Historically, part of their training also involves a 1 - 3 year soljourn away from home (and must be outside of a 50km radius of their home town), called 'Die Wanderjahre' (The Wander Year) where they travel to broaden their horizons, but must not work for money, but only for food and housing, wearing their very well identifiable uniform the entire time, and ahere to very strict codes of conducts. Many people will taken them in for free board in exchange for them to fix bits and bobs of broken woodwork in their homes, and in turn, support the 'coming of age' and help these youngsters hone up their skills before they set down to business, fostering those informal social relationships that strengthen relationships between/amongst communities. It reminds me of similar Buddhist monks' traditions of journeying as a process of self discipline and character building in Asian countries. Its no longer a compulsory dress code for contemporary carpenters, but you would still find many carpentry businesses using pictures of men on their Wanderjahre as their logos. The tradition of both wandering and wearing the uniform is enjoying a bit of a revival in Germany, and is really appealing to the alternative crowd, and women carpenters are also now going on Wanderjahre (in pants, of course).
Top Photo courtesey of http://www.tagblatt.ch/magazin/leben/tb-le/Wanderjahre-eines-Gesellen%3Bart126,611129
See also http://www.brighthub.com/education/languages/articles/33881.aspx
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