The Spreewald 
dress form an agreeable contrast to the simple, almost 
sombre apparel of the sunburnt, powerfully built 
men. As will be seen from the pictures, the skirts 
of the Wendish girls reach just below the knee; they 
are generally of a bright scarlet hue, trimmed with 
black velvet. The bodice is generally of black velvet, 
and white sleeves, the head-dress being either white 
or colored. White stockings and half-shoes add to 
the picturesque effect. The Spreewald bridesmaids 
especially, carry a small fortune—in skirts. The 
more skirts they put on, the wealthier the family. 
The Spreewald girls spin and weave the materials for 
their own dresses. The men are engaged chiefly 
in fishing, gardening and agriculture, the spade tak¬ 
ing the place of the plough. On the outskirts of the 
Spreewald, the people have become somewhat more 
Germanised, but in the Spreewald proper, it is 
wonderful with what tenacity the peasants cling to 
the traditional dress, customs and language of their 
ancestors. May this primitive, magic little spot of 
green, refreshing in its simplicity, long be preserved 
from the too aggressive inroads of a prosaic and 
effete civilization. 
1 he Spreewald is unique in its charm, its legendary 
history and fables. Certainly its like cannot be 
found in Europe, perhaps not in the whole world. 
The former wilderness of the Spreewald, sur¬ 
rounded as it was by bogs, constituted a safe refuge 
for tbe Wends, who were striving to defend their 
religion and their nationality. The heavy cavalry 
of the Saxons, in their campaigns against the Poles, 
had to halt before this labyrinth of bogs and impene¬ 
trable thicket. Under the shade of the venerable 
oaks, rose the grotesque figures of the ancient gods 
of the Wends. Here, too, in later years, fled the 
inhabitants of the neighboring villages with what they 
could save of their property, during the Thirty Years’ 
War. 
Axe and saw have since brought light and air into 
this forest which the old Wends regarded as imper¬ 
ishable. 
The Upper Spreewald formerly extended from 
Lubben to Cottbus, and still forms the principal 
point of attraction to tourists. But the Lower 
Spreewald, geographically, ethnographically and 
historically, can really lay claim to be the more 
interesting. The systematic excavations which were 
carried on for so many years under the direction of 
Professor Virchow, afford conclusive evidence that 
the district was inhabited even before the immigra¬ 
tion of the Slavs from the East. The gradual popu¬ 
lating of the Spreewald by the forefathers of the 
present inhabitants took place in the fifth century. 
Fishing, hunting, the cultivation of flax and the 
production of honey, and cattle-breeding, constituted 
at that time the principal occupation of the Wends, 
69 
