Oktoberfest in Munich officially starts Sept 19th (yes it’s NOT in October!) and one of the main accessories you will see on many of the revelers heads is the ‘Tyrolean Hat/Alpine Hat’ (seen below) with an assortment of distinguishing hat pins (these can be of anything).

These pins I love and have been collecting various ones from German functions I have been to for a few years. Below is one of my vintage favorites from Kitchener. Ontario Oktoberfest (biggest Oktoberfest outside of Munich). Now I don’t wear mine on a hat but I display them on my Dirndl (I have to rotate them out as I have a good selection).

For today’s post I wanted to share some lovely vintage kitschy and fantastic hat pins that are available for purchase (at time of this post. Visit ETSY for more options). Enjoy!

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay, are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Note: If you click on an item and it is no longer available, don’t fret! The websites I have provided are updated daily with 1000’s of new & vintage items. Just do a quick search and see what you find.

Vintage German Hat Pins

1950s Hat Pins: The pin from Hohenstaufen has an alpine hunter with his dog. The pin from Rune Rechberg has a girl in tradional dress holding flowers with her dog nearby.

Source: Etsy

1960s Hat pin featuring the well known Black Forest Home.

Source: Etsy

I LOVE Cuckoo Clocks!! I currently own my grandmothers and I’m trying to find a space for it in my house but I own one! Now you can too in a mini version with this vintage Cuckoo Clock Brooch/ hat pin.

Cuckoo Clock Brooch, Vintage German Hatpin, Bad Steben, Hof, Bavarian Hat Pin

Source: Etsy

Bad Harzburg Bergbahn Cable Car Pin. Many pins you will see on hats are “souvenir pins” of different towns/cities in Germany.

German Travel Souvenir Hat Pin Bad Harzburg Bergbahn Cable Car — Source: eBay

Edelweiss is big on these pins (for obvious reasons) and you will see them all the time in various forms.

German Travel Souvenir Hat Pin Oktoberfest Edelweiss Alpine Flowers Rope — Source: eBay

There is a great vendor on Etsy called “My Beautiful Bavaria” that has a stunning collection of pins (and other German items), like this vintage 1950s Celluloid Doll Baby German Pin.

Info on the pin:

The hatpin is from a wine region near the Rhine River; Altenahr is situated between Bonn and Koblenz. The little girl doll is standing against a background of grapes, and a yellow wine glass and orange wine bottle dangle beneath the main portion of the pin. This was likely a souvenir from a 1950s era European vacation.

The hatpin is from a wine region near the Rhine River; Altenahr is situated between Bonn and Koblenz. The little girl doll is standing against a background of grapes, and a yellow wine glass and orange wine bottle dangle beneath the main portion of the pin. This was likely a souvenir from a 1950s era European vacation. — Source: Etsy-My Beautiful Bavaria

Do you love owls? Here is another vintage darling from the same shop.

1960s vintage owl hat pin — Source: Etsy-My Beautiful Bavaria

A large windmill (the Alt Weibermühle) and a Donkey make this Hat Pin very unique.

vintage german souvenir brooch hat pin-A large windmill (the Alt Weibermühle) and a Donkey — Source: Etsy-My Beautiful Bavaria

Doggie Paddle! Vintage 1940s/1950s Hat Pin from Steinhuder Meer, Germany.

Dog in Canoe Germany Nautical Travel Souvenir Pinback Hat Pins Collectible Brooch Hatpins — Source: Etsy-My Beautiful Bavaria

Vintage 1950s Bavarian dancers. CUTE!

Vintage German hat pin with bavarian dancers — Source: Etsy-GLOWUP

Who can say no to a parrot for your hat (or maybe to wear as a brooch for Novelty Brooch Friday)?

vintage german hat pin of a parrot — Source: eBay

Wine, grapes and a wine glass makes for the perfect hat pin for me (I adore wine as much as I adore beer).

German vintage hat pin with Wine, grapes and a wine glass — Source: eBay

Lastly I will end this post with this Alpine Hat with its own wonderful collection of pins, going as far back as 1968.

Bavarian German Hat with pins — Source: Etsy-JansVintageStuff

I don’t have a hat (yet) so I wear mine on my dirndl as you can see below in this 2024 photo. I have MANY pins and I change them out all the time. You can do the same! Have fun with them.

Photo of Liz from the Vintage Inn Blog, wearing a dirndl from Munich and German hat pins.

Hope you enjoyed browsing the world of German Hat Pins and maybe found 1 or 2 you would like for yourself to start your own collection or maybe you have a collection started already. If you do please share in the comment section below or email me at ‘thevintageinnblog@gmail.com’.

FURTHER READING:

It’s Vintage Oktoberfest Poster Time!
Vintage Inn goes to Oktoberfest –Vintage Photos & Vintage Dirndls
Vintage Dirndl Fashion Illustrations

September 2024 Update: I have created a fun Oktoberfest playlist on Spotify that is perfect for your next fest party. Enjoy!

Happy Oktoberfest season!

Liz

Recently I received a comment on my blog from Jessica from Chronically Vintage and she brought up the statement about the movie “League of their Own” being a big vintage influence in her life. Then when I returned her response, I had to think for a moment who MY vintage influences were that helped shape the vintage gal I am today.

Well I have given it some thought and now I would like to share them with you and then maybe you can share yours with me?

Further Reading: Check my ‘ABOUT ME‘ page.

1940s vintage image of two women with 1940s Hairstyles and 1940s Jewelry talking.

I was a late bloomer when it came to my transformation into the clothing side of the vintage world. It was not really until that I moved to Toronto for Fashion school in 1999 that I started to stumble upon vintage items that were hard to come by in my home town (thank you Kensington market!) which then helped start my vintage clothing obsession.

BUT I was exposed to many vintage “things” growing up before this time. Here are some of the things that influenced me in my early days:

My Grandfathers Big Band Collection of Music– I remember spending what felt like hours sifting thru his collections and asking to borrow one or 2 CD’s to take home and listen too each visit. He is the reason I fell so deeply in love with the early sounds of the Big Bands.

Glenn Miller Record — Source: Flickeriver

Sunday Afternoons watching MGM Musicals with my mom-It was a tradition for my mom and I too sit down and watch one of those amazing Technicolor fantasies together. I loved escaping from the world around me for 2 hours as I was serenaded by Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced across my screen in one stunning outfit after another.

meet me in st louis Trolly Song — Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland

Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly in "Singin' in the Rain" — Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain”

Anne of Green Gables and Road to Avonlea– I adore all of Lucy Maud Montgomery books and so when they were turned into a TV mini series (Anne) and a TV series (Road) I was even more hooked. Hooked on the stunning outfits from the early 20th century (1903–1912) to be even more exact.

Anne of Green Gables TV Show Anne from 1980s — Anne of Green Gables

I feel so in love with the show Road to Avonlea that I wanted to create my own clothing for the characters, so sketching of my own designs became my new hobby. And eventually was the reason I entered Fashion marketing school in Toronto (and forever changing my life).

Road to Avonlea Clothing — Costume from Road To Avonlea-Sullivan Entertainment

Swing Kids the movie-I must have watched this movie 10 million times and vowed to one day learn how to dance like that.

Enter the..Swing Revival in the 90s which lead to my ongoing love of Lindy Hop.

Johnny Favorite Swing Orchestra-First Neo Swing Band I ever saw that visited Sarnia

The famous Gap commercial from 1998 that helped bring swing music back into mainstream: a real swing revival in the US.

Here are my more recent influences:

Vintage bloggers (thank you internet)-My first vintage blogger I ever found was Retro Chick and she ended up sending me down a rabbit hole of awesomeness that I have never been able to get back out of (or want to).

Toronto Vintage Society-Being part of this group and their awesome knowledge of all things vintage has really pushed my passion to the next level. Thanks everyone!

Flickr and Pinterest-These 2 sites are every vintage lovers dream. The image below I found on Pinterest but was originally seen on Flickr. Seeing real-life images of ladies in gents from your favorite era is a great way to perfect your vintage look.

1930's vintage wedding photo featuring a bride in an elegant long train 1930s wedding gown with veil. — Source: Flickr-PROprofkaren

Etsy &, eBay-What I don’t have to leave the comforts of my home to pour over tons of vintage dresses and accessories in a store but can instead buy them online? Yes Please! And boy have I ever used these sites (Etsy more than Ebay) to push my style to the next level.

1950s vintage dress with plaid top and black skirt. — Source: Etsy-TheVintageMistress

1940s vintage dresses lot — Source: eBay

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Vintage Events–VIVA Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend, All the vintage events being held in Toronto, Lindy Hop weekends and so many others. You can’t help but be inspired after leaving these events.