A Century of Czech Tramping

Abstract

The article describes the history and major characteristics of an independent Czech youth movement called “tramping.” The movement originated in the 1910s-1920s as an unorganized offshoot of boy scouting and E. T. Seton’s Woodcraft and quickly became popular among urban teens and young adults. It was simply a way of spending time outdoors with friends at first, heavily influenced by early western movies and Wild West aesthetics in general, but became a distinctive subculture and cultural phenomenon during the following decades. Some of its unique aspects include specific music, slang, art and dress code. Czech tramping is also an interesting example of an early youth subculture, which is comparable to post-WW2 subcultures and which survived into the present day although its participants were often persecuted, especially under the communist regime. Another topic discussed is the fact that the movement kept its independence even under political pressure, rejected all attempts to organize it hierarchically and while it sometimes had a dimension of a protest culture in the 20th century, it can be considered to be apolitical in general.