Unique hats from Schechingen: The last milliner in the Ostalbkreis!

Unique hats from Schechingen: The last milliner in the Ostalbkreis!

The profession of a milliner is not only rare, but also fascinating and demanding. Juliane Fischer is one of the few trained milliners in Germany who works in this craft area. Her hat salon in Schechingen, in the Ostalbkreis, was founded by her grandmother in 1953 and has been managed by Juliane since 2019. Making hats requires both creative skills and a sense of trends, as milliners often work without templates and create customized pieces suitable for special occasions.

“We design hats that customers like and at the same time take up a current trend,” explains Fischer. Loud SWR A hat can take several days to make, especially if elaborate embellishments are added.

The art of hat making

The job of a milliner includes designing a wide range of hats. These include traditional men's hats, top hats as well as imaginative women's hat creations, often decorated with handmade flowers for flower hair wreaths. A milliner not only has the task of creating new hats, but also repairs, cares for and refurbishes existing headgear. These facets of the profession are also indispensable in the theater, where milliners design special headgear for productions, like the Ulm milliner Christina Schlumberger, who combines her hats with her job as a costume designer. She sees her pieces as individual, unique pieces that should fit the personality of the wearer.

Milliners use a wide variety of materials. The spectrum ranges from traditional materials such as felt, straw and cloth to atypical materials that are developed during the creative process. Decorations are varied and can include flowers, feathers, tulle and veils, which emphasize the individuality of the hats.

The development of the profession

Unfortunately, the profession is increasingly rarely offered in training companies and exams for the apprenticeship profession are only possible in Berlin and Stuttgart. This reflects a general trend that custom hats are rarely worn in private life. The meeting space for this profession has shifted as demand increases, especially in the event sector, for example for weddings or special events. Careers in the theater describes how milliners play a crucial role in the theater, where their headwear is essential to underline characters and moods.

Milliners not only design fashionable accessories, but also contribute to a very special part of traditional craftsmanship that is increasingly being pushed into the background. Despite the challenges, the passion for hat making remains alive, starting from the early years when Fischer sold her first hat for five marks, and shows how important this craft is to culture and fashion.