Bregenzerwäldergesellschaft Neujahrsgruss VLM

What you are looking at

This is a decorated cardboard or wooden box lid, likely from around 1900, with a New Year's greeting from the Bregenzerwälder Gesellschaft (Bregenzerwald Society) of Schwarzach, Austria. The centrepiece is a domestic interior scene showing five figures in traditional Alpine costume engaged in a lively group dance or celebration. The setting is a rustic wooden cottage with small windows and a sloped roof visible through the open doorway at right. Three women in long, full skirts with patterned aprons and dark bodices stand with arms raised and extended, their bodies angled in dynamic poses; a man in dark breeches, waistcoat and hat faces them with one arm gesturing; a fifth figure, an older woman or man, sits or reclines at the right edge near the cottage door, watching the action. The palette is warm—ochre, cream, soft greens and blues—with decorative golden scrollwork framing the scene. The composition is energetic and informal, capturing a moment of festive social gathering rather than a formal, choreographed dance.

The dancing

The three standing women are the focal point, each with raised arms and bent or extended legs suggesting active movement—jumps, springs, or rapid turning steps. Their weight appears to shift dynamically from foot to foot. The man's posture is open and welcoming, one arm extended toward the women in invitation or encouragement. The seated figure at right observes passively, grounding the scene and suggesting this is a communal celebration watched as well as participated in. The bodies are upright and energetic rather than balletic; the movement is social and participatory, not trained.

The dance depicted

This depicts Ländler or an Alpine folk dance of the Bregenzerwald region (a mountainous area of Vorarlberg in Austria). Ländler is a turning, stamping couples' dance with roots in the 18th-century laendler tradition, performed at village celebrations and social gatherings. The raised arms, turning postures, and informal group setting are consistent with regional Austrian folk dance, where men and women danced together in a celebratory, often improvisatory manner. The image records not choreographed ballet or formal ballroom dance but the vernacular social dance of a specific Alpine community, likely performed at New Year festivities.

How it was made

This is a lithographed or chromolithographed box lid, a commercial printed object. The technique allowed bright, naturalistic colour and fine detail across a large surface, and the decorative border in gold and blue suggests a premium product—likely a confectionery or gift box intended for holiday distribution. The New Year's greeting and the name of the sponsoring society indicate this was a keepsake or promotional item with sentimental value, circulating within or beyond the Schwarzach community to advertise regional tradition and identity.

About this work

This is a chromolithographed greeting box lid, circa 1900, documenting a moment of Alpine folk dance celebration in rural Austria. It records the social dance culture of the Bregenzerwald region through the lens of a commercial holiday keepsake. The work sits at the intersection of vernacular documentation and commercial design: a printed object that preserves and promotes the regional identity of a specific community while serving as a gift or commodity. For dance historians, it offers rare visual evidence of how Ländler and Alpine folk dances were actually performed and socially embedded in the early 20th century.

How to look at it

Notice the raised arms and the varied, unsymmetrical postures of the three dancing women—they are not moving in unison or in a choreographed formation, but responding to the music and to one another's energy. The man's open posture and gesture suggest he is about to join or is encouraging the dance. Look at the cottage setting and the seated observer: this is not a theatre or concert hall, but a domestic, communal space where social dance belongs to everyday life. The artist chose to freeze a moment of momentum and participation, not a formal beginning or ending.

The artist

The catalogue record credits a photographer (Andreas Praefcke) for the digital image. The original lithograph is likely the work of a commercial printer or lithographic workshop, probably based in Vienna or another Austrian city, but no artist signature or attribution is recorded. The decorative border and lettering style suggest professional commercial design, not folk or amateur production.

The period

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Alpine folk dance and costume became symbols of regional and national identity across the German-speaking world, especially in Austria and Bavaria. Regional societies (Gesellschaften) were founded to preserve and promote local traditions. At the same time, chromolithography and colour printing made it economically feasible to reproduce images of folk life on commercial goods, turning regional culture into a commodity and a gift. This box sits at the intersection of romantic nationalism, commercial popular culture, and the documentation of disappearing or threatened rural traditions.

Where it lives

The catalogue record identifies this as held by the Vorarlberg Museum (Vorarlberg Museum, Bregenz), and the inscription on the box confirms it is a New Year's greeting (Neujahrsgruß) from the Bregenzerwälder Gesellschaft of Schwarzach. It is a printed ephemeral object—a holiday gift box—not a fine art print, and was likely produced in multiple copies for distribution.

Dance in this work

Questions about this work