Slawin in Urtracht (Slavic Woman Wearing an Original Costume, 1936–37)
Photo: N. Lackner / UMJ
The figure of a “Slavic woman” (a member of the Slovenian minority from Lower Styria) belongs to the Trachtensaal (Hall of Folk Costumes) in Graz’s Folk Life Museum. This encyclopedic display of traditional Styrian costumes (Tracht) was a life project of the museum founder, Viktor Geramb (1884–1958). The figures were hand-carved by professional sculptors, mostly (like Slawin) by local Catholic modernist Alexander Silveri (1910–1986), but also by a dedicated Nazi party member and another soft modernist, Hans Mauracher (1885–1957). The faces were partly created by a well-known painter (and another Nazi party member), Fritz Silberbauer (1883–1974).
Only two of the forty-two figures, a man and a woman, depict Slavs—as a barbaric minority rather than the majority population they historically represented in the Austrian Empire. Their portrayal—barefoot and in plain white clothes (contrasting strongly with colorful, “authentic” Styrian Tracht)—is based on an 1810 drawing by Karl Ruß (1779–1843). However, the figures’ appearance is dated “10th–19th c.” (while for Styrian costumes the exact year is always given), implying that Slavs were underdeveloped and did not evolve from the Middle Ages until modern times.
Part of the historic Trachtensaal
Wood, textiles, ca. 185 × 55 × 35 cm
Folk Life Museum at the Paulustor / Universalmuseum Joanneum