1023, 3358 POLAND (Greater Poland) - Traditional Bamberka costume

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Posted on 06.03.2014, 15.01.2020
Located on the Warta river, Poznań was an important cultural and political centre with centuries before the Christianization of Poland, becoming later the capital of Wielkopolska (Greater Poland), and, for a short time, even the capital of the kingdom. After a long time of prosperity, in the 17th and 18th centuries the city was severely affected by a series of wars, plagues and floods, which practically depopulated it. Following, in area were brought, in several waves, Dutch and Bambergian settlers, exclusively Catholics, as ordered in 1710 August II the Strong, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.

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The polonisation of the latter ones, subsequently named Bambrzy, was a voluntary act and happened very quickly. In the late 19th century, the meaning of the word Bamber (singular form) became wider, designating all the people living in those villages, regardless of their ethnic or cultural background. Of course that the settlers had their own folk costume, quite modest, but in the second half of the 19th century this was changed into a rich impressive outfit full of decorative pieces. So it must be emphasized that the folk dress of the descendants of these immigrants it wasn't brought by them from Bamberg, but was developed here. It should be also noted that it is about women's dress, the men adopting quickly the typical clothes of the locals.

2086, 2979 POLAND (Łódź) - Children from Łowicz in traditional dress

2086 Children from Łowicz in traditional dress (1)

Posted on 30.11.2015, 11.03.2017
The Łowicz region corresponds with the area of the former Łowicz Duchy, which nowadays covers the best part of Łowicz District. People from this region began to wear the charcteristic striped fabric in the 20's and 30's of the 19th century. A crimson background covered with verical sets of stripes dominated till the end of that century, then an orange background appears and the stripes are varied. In the inter-war period clothes are mainly navy blue and green.

2979 Children from Łowicz in traditional dress (2)

In the 19th century women from Łowicz region wore creased skirts made of striped woollen cloth, pleated aprons, bodices and jackets. In the 20th century bodices were more and more often made from black velvet and sewn together with the skirts, embroidered with threads and beads giving a splendid display of roses surrounded by other smaller flowers and leaves. The sleeves with embroidered cuffs were extremely baggy.

2486, 2967 POLAND (Pomerania) - Kashubian people

2486 Kashubian traditional dress

Posted on 23.04.201, 24.02.2017
Kashubians (Kashubian: Kaszëbi; Polish: Kaszubi; German: Kaschuben) are a West Slavic ethnic group in  Pomerelia, a historical region in northern Poland, located on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula river. They speak the Kashubian language, classified either as a separate language closely related to Polish, or a Polish dialect. Gdynia contains the largest proportion of people declaring Kashubian origin, but the biggest city and the traditional capital of Kashubia is Gdańsk.

2967 A Kashubian dance

Kashubians descend from the Slavic Pomeranian tribes, who had settled between the Oder and Vistula Rivers after the Migration Period, prior to the arrival of the Poles, and were at various times Polish and Danish vassals. Despite strong Germanization, Kashubian think about themselves as Poles, and the motto is "There is no Kashubia without Poles and Poland without Kaszubians". Today, in some towns and villages in Pomeralia, Kashubian is the second language spoken after Polish, and it is taught in regional schools.

2144 POLAND (Silesia) - Miners from Nikiszowiec in traditional costume

Now part of a district of Katowice, Nikiszowiec (German: Nikischschacht) was initially coal miners' settlement of Giesche mine, built on the land of Gieschewald manor (Giszowiec) between 1908-1918. Miners' profession was always considered dangerous but prestigious, therefore the Miners' Day (called Barbórka) was celebrated for centuries in a spectacular way. The name of the feast originate of course from Saint Barbara (December 4th) as a patron.

1466 POLAND (Silesia) - Rozbarsko-Bytomski folk costume

Silesians are the inhabitants of Silesia, a region of Central Europe, along the Odra river, now located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. They are of Slavic descent, but because Germany ruled Silesia for a long time, Silesians have been deeply influenced by German culture. They are generally considered to belong to a Polish ethnographic group, but there is also the opinion that they constitute a distinct nation. 847,000 people declared themselves to be of Silesian nationality in the 2011 Polish national census (including 376,000 who declared it to be their only nationality). The region is rich in mineral and natural resources and includes several important industrial areas (its largest city being Wrocław).