{"id":12350,"date":"2026-10-27T00:37:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T23:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonnenhof-sonnhalde.de\/de_de\/bollenhut\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T00:37:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T23:37:41","slug":"bollenhut-black-forest-hat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonnenhof-sonnhalde.de\/en\/bollenhut\/","title":{"rendered":"Bollenhut: Origin, meaning and where to see it"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bollenhut is considered the symbol of the Black Forest par excellence: a white-painted straw hat with red wool balls, which is familiar from postcards, souvenirs, and even the logo of the holiday region. In fact, the Bollenhut is the traditional costume of only three communities in the Kinzig and Gutachtal valley. This article explains its origin, the meaning of red and black, and tells where you can see Bollenhutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bollenhut: Origin and homeland<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Beanie
Photo: Baden de<\/a> \/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Bollenhut is part of the dress code for evangelical women in Gutach, Wolfach-Kirnbach and Hornberg-Reichenbach \u2013 three places in the Kinzig and Gutachtal valley. Gutach is the largest of these places and gave the hat its name. According to one interpretation, the hat represented the evangelical affiliation of the women in the Catholic-dominated Kinzig valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its roots lie in straw hats. An instruction from the W\u00fcrttemberg Chancery of 1797 ordered that straw hats be adorned with the \u201eusual decoration of black and red colors.\u201c Initially, these were painted black and red circles; later, they were sewn together into knitted rosebuds, which grew larger in the 19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a bowling cap looks like<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The hat is a straw hat that is reinforced with white plaster. It has eleven large wool balls (\u201ebollen\u201c) arranged in a crisscross pattern, and three more that are only faintly visible at the edge \u2013 a total of 14 balls. The hat weighs about 1.5 to 2 kilograms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among these is a black silk hat. The costume also includes a black velour skirt, a velvet bodice with embroidered flowers and a white blouse with puff sleeves. The men wear a black, red-lined overcoat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hat is made by hand. As Schwarzwald Tourismus reports in a portrait of a straw hat maker from Kirnbach, it takes around a week and about a kilogram of wool to make one hat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red or black: What the colors mean<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unmarried women wear the red ball hat, from confirmation to marriage. Married women wear a hat with black balls. According to Wikipedia, little girls and older women only wear the black silk hat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the beads themselves and their number mean is not known. The often cited interpretation of the Fourteen Holy Helpers is considered unlikely by experts: The hats come from evangelical congregations and have only been documented since the late 18th century, long after the Reformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Bollenhut became a symbol of the Black Forest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n