[3] The immediate precursors of today's Schuhplatter were the 18th-century minuet, quadrille, and Française, but unlike these courtly and highly stylized dances, the early Plattlers of the common folk were free of rules.

In 1838, the Empress of Russia was honored with a Schuhplattler by the residents of the bath town of Wildbad Kreuth,[6] and the aristocracy, fascinated by the strange costumes and quaint pursuits of the common folk, began taking an interest in the dance.

Many consider the real birth of the modern Schuhplattler, however, to be King Maximilian II of Bavaria's excursion through the Alps in 1858, when locals performed the dance for him, and he fell in love with it.

[7] In 1886, French traveler Hugues Krafft wrote of the Schuhplattler: On Sundays and holidays one sees couples dancing to music on larger town squares everywhere—preferably the Ländler, a leisurely waltz popular among girls and boys.

He turns around on his axis, slaps his thighs and legs, falls to his knees, jumps in the air and throws his hat as he lets out a joyful whoop... Those who master the dance are cheered with vigorous applause.

The Trachtenvereine were often strict and exacting about how the dance was to be performed and how club members were to dress, although new Schuhplattler groups sprang up after the second world war that were less tied to the older forms.

More common are short lederhosen, which range from the knee-length version favored by traditionalist groups and Munich Oktoberfest visitors to the much shorter variety worn in South Tyrol.

Traditionalist Trachtenvereine around the world still perform the Schuhplattler as a partner dance, with the women spinning across the stage in their dirndls, offering color and graceful movement to counterbalance the leaping and slapping of the plattlerists.