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Sorbic Dresses and their meaning

The sorbic dresses are often mentioned by mistake as the "Spreewaldtracht" are worn in daily life only by older women. In this case there are different types of the traditional clothes: for the jobjob, for the church, for the ride into the city or for ceremonies. To village celebrations and other festivities, at performances of cultural groups as well as in the custom care you can see many girls and women in their beautiful celebration and dance dresses. Valuable hand made embroideries are used to decorate the pastel coloured scarves, skirt bandsbands and elaborate bounded bonnets.

White lace aprons or embroidered silk aprons are tied over wool skirts in strong colours. While dresses in former times were decorated with sparse embroideries or small pearlsbeads, extensive needle works are now necessary to show the magnificence of the dresses with their extensive pattern and colours. The colouring of the embroideries should be fit in usual complementary colours without looking excessively colourful and shrill. In this case the “Golden Rule” is used successfully: the colours of the embroideries should occur in a three combination and recur in all parts of the dress - in the skirt, in the scarf and also in the head scarf and/or the bonnet.

The different colours of the dresses which are leading back to the regional differences in the Spreewald you can see at best while visiting the Spreewald museum.

Small chromatology and their symbol content

Red

Colour of power, the old culture (Blood) magic, love and friendship

Green

Colour of fertility, the origin, reproduction, festivity and honour

White

Colour of innocence, chastity, purity and grief

Blue

Colour of infinity, immortality and eternity

Yellow

Colour of the sun, harmony and heat, the fire and wealthfortune, jealousy and envy

Black

Color for ecclesiastical celebrations as well as religious occasions