Gamsbarts were worn only by keen men in the past!
For a Gamsbart is made out of the back hair of chamoises (also called Aalstrief).
Thus who ever wanted to possess a Gamsbart had to move into the heights of the mountains to slay one chamois. Only the bravest men have shouldered the tortures to slay one animal.
But to get a especially "bushy" Gamsbart the animals had to be killed in the winter, because at this time is the hair of the chamois’s really thick and is very suitable for the production of this costume decoration.
So the Gamsbart showed in the past which men were keen enough to go even in winter into the snowy high mountains to be able to grace with this trophy.
Even today the Gamsbarts are a popular head decoration in Austria and Bavaria. Today they don´t give information about the keeness of the men, they inform about of their wealth instead, because the hair of 1 to 10 chamoises is required to make real big Gamsbarts.
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