At the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, people wear crimson, “a bit musty,” says a judge there regretfully. This is a shade that tends to be a bit brownish. No comparison at all to the bright theater red that they would traditionally wear at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe – and which, by the way, is also officially called that because these robes were once designed by a costume designer from the Badisches Staatstheater.
In any case, it is the case with the musty-red people of Leipzig, the judge goes on to say, that the newcomers are first given a so-called “robe process” as a welcome. This is a file. It says in there that you have to get a robe yourself and exactly how it has to be cut and also exactly what color it has to be. A fine strip of fabric is handed over with the file. A color sample. And a recommendation as to which tailor you can get particularly good service from.
The robe is work clothing for judges. You get used to it, say most. The initially somewhat strange feeling of being disguised is gone. The robe is only worn in the courtroom, never in the corridor, never in the canteen, never in the office – and as an observer you would be wrong if you believed that judges spend most of their time in the courtroom. The higher the court, the less often they still sit there, and the more in the office. Thus, especially with the higher and highest authorities, a certain distance to the silk cover-up, the robe, remains. It’s not an everyday item. It remains special.
At the Federal Constitutional Court, a judicial officer always has to come to help with dressing, the robe is so cumbersome. The robes there have been in use since the 1950s and are passed on from generation to generation, as Andreas Voßkuhle, the former President of the Constitutional Court, once said. The reason: the old fabric is so special that you can no longer get it in the same shade today. That’s why the court even keeps an old bolt of this material in stock – an iron reserve in case something needs to be repaired.
It is particularly pretty when you compare the group photos of the Canadian and American Supreme Court judges. In Canada, people wear a bright red coat with cozy white fur trimmings on the sleeves, shoulders and around the stomach. You don’t wear a matching pointed cap. In the USA, on the other hand, the highest judges dress as simply as possible: black silk, basta. An official dress like at the district court of Passau.
American judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg was famous for still complementing her black robe with fancy white collars. Of course, you could also try that at the stuffy-red Federal Administrative Court. It’s definitely allowed.
At this point, Verena Mayer and Ronen Steinke write in weekly alternation about their experiences at German courts.
(Photo: Bernd Schifferdecker)