ZD…………
Ashkenaz was the word for Germany. German Jews often wear a Talis starting with Bar Mitzvah.
My maternal side is German, my paternal side Litvak. When it came time for my Bar Mitzvah, Opa bought me a Talis. My father explained to me that it was the custom on mom’s side of the family. I and my older single brother wore a Talis when we visited with Oma and Opa and attended their Yekkah shul. We didn’t wear them in our home shul.
I once hear Opa asked why the Germans started wearing a Talis at Bar Mitzvah and the Eastern Europeans not: His condescending reply: ‘The easterners were far too poor to afford both a Talis and Tefillin for the Bar Mitzvah boy. The boy might even receive the Tefillin of a dead ancestor, but the dead ancestor was buried in his Talis and it was not available for reuse. Instead the bride’s family was expected to buy the groom a Talis at marriage. Opa had only daughters, mom was the only one not to marry a Yekkah, Opa did not buy my father a Talis.