Drinkende boer en boerin 1859 - 1916

Wilhelm Wörnle made this print, Drinkende boer en boerin, at an unknown date. It presents a seemingly simple scene: a farmer and his wife sharing a drink. But what does it tell us about rural life and social hierarchies in the late 19th and early 20th century Germany? Wörnle's image creates meaning through the visual codes of peasantry. Consider the clothing: the farmer's cap and the wife's headscarf are markers of rural identity. The act of sharing a drink could symbolize community and solidarity, yet it also reflects the everyday realities of agricultural life in a rapidly industrializing nation. To fully understand this print, we can look into the social conditions that shaped artistic production at the time. Researching German agrarian history, the temperance movement, or even folklore might give us a richer sense of its cultural significance. Art history reminds us that meaning is contingent on social and institutional context.