A German brewery has introduced the kilt as an option for their employees

[GG]

On The German TV-channel WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) they last Friday evening had a reportage about a brewery, Welde, where employees are allowed to wear kilts, or Schottenröcke, i.e. skirts for Scotsmen, as kilts are called in German language.
In abbreviated form they in the video spot accordingly refer to them as just “Röcke” (skirts), but without negative connotations. They mean kilts. In the translation below I have, therefore, called them kilts even if they say ‘skirts’.
Hear is the link to the video:

http://www.swr.de/landesschau-bw/-/i...nyd/index.html

Greg

Uniform „Schottenrock“ [kilt].
Schwetzingen [near Heidelberg, Germany]. WDR 20 August 2009. 18:41

Introductory text on the WDR home page

Hot summer, a cold bear and the brewery driver comes in a kilt: The Welde Brewery in Schwetzingen has made the kilt a uniform and the drivers have accepted the idea.
We have taken a closer look.

Video

Speaker:
Shift at the Welde Brewery in Plankstadt/Schwetzingen. Black uniforms are mandatory. They are provided by the company. On hot days they feel really warm and not always a pleasure to wear.
That was what truck driver Robert Clark said to himself. Because of his hard physical work he often sweats all over and he came upon a simple but likewise brilliant idea. Now now he is delivering beer wearing a kilt and his colleagues are positive.

Employee no. 1:
Well, everything is possible nowadays, and no doubt one or another shall get interested, so well…

Employee no. 2:
The somewhat older generation is a little bit skeptically, but the quite young collegues have taken the idea to them.

Employee no. 3 (young man):
Yes, I have already ordered one myself.

Speaker:
Now more than half of the 40 employees want a kilt. Brewery boss Hans [or Heinz] Spielmann and his wife Brigitte had to find out whether a kilt was acceptable at all as a garment for men to wear to job in their company.
A test phase with Robert Clark proved most positive and was beyond all expectations.

Brigitte:
We were surprised experiencing that after the first skirt 3-4 employees after just two days spontaneously came to us and told us they wanted a kilt, too. And it was not just among the drivers, but from the office people as well.

Speaker:
Therefore green light for the black kilt.

Hans:
After some initial skepticism from our side we have been convinced that it was a rather good idea and have said OK.

Speaker:
And especially during the summer where it is peak for driving out bears the drivers must feel fit.

Robert Clark:
When it is 30 degrees [C] and you have to step out of the truck and lift a heavy burden between your knees it is nice that you don’t sweat that much.

Speaker:
By the way the truck has no air con.
Now, however, the daily rounds are quite an experience for Robert Clark. He rather enjoys the reactions regarding his natural air-conditioning.
When he jumps out of his truck wearing the kilt the reactions go from incredible astonishment over admiration to the definite refusal.

Lady no. 1:
Even if it looks strange, well…they feel better wearing it, I think.

Lady no. 2:
A progress, that’s for sure. I think it looks good.

Man:
Everyone to his taste. No scandal.

Lady no. 3 – not seen, only heard:
It shall never catch on.

Lady no. 4:
Here in rather conservative Baden definitely not.

Speaker:
One thing is of high interest, of course.

Lady sitting at a table:
We should like to know what is worn under the kilt. If it really is more airy...

Robert Clark:
I’m sorry. That’s a secret

Speaker:
And the secret is kept. Robert Clark however is proud that many of his co-workers are going to follow his example.

Robert Clark laughing:
The idea they have got from me. That’s for sure.

[Hamish]

Many thanks for the link, Greg. What a great, progressive Company to work for! It is remarkable (but not to us, of course) that so many of the employees have taken to the kilt so readily. I cannot see this happening in the UK, but I should like to be proved wrong!

Take care,
Ham.

[The Guy in the Kilt at UC]

That's good about the company. It seems hard to believe that some workplaces do not allow it, except for cases of safety concerns of course. Still, I like seeing the kilt being introduced to more places.

[JRB]

Once you go kilt...

[Galician]

We have a kilted brewer in Germany on this forum, who has posted recently. I wonder if he is one of their employees.

[klingon warrior]

That is fantastic. Does anybody know if this brewery exports to the US? I'd like to support them the best way I know how........by drinking their beer!