In Upper Franconia, three sheep were stolen from a shepherd, including young animals with the names of the Bavarian Prime Minister and the Federal Chancellor. Although they are not innocent lambs themselves – in this case they are clearly victims.
Markus Söder and Olaf Scholz don’t have a lot in common, except maybe this: neither of them are innocent lambs. Söder distributes regularly and with a preference in the direction of the traffic light coalition, Scholz is said to have called a North Rhine-Westphalian head of government an “amateur in a prime minister’s costume”. In this story, however, Bavaria’s Prime Minister and the Federal Chancellor are not to blame, on the contrary: Söder and Scholz are indirectly victims of a criminal case in Upper Franconia.
The stolen goods in Weißenstadt are of course not the always well-guarded politicians, but prominently baptized lambs from the herd of the secondary school teacher and pastoral shepherd Karl Frister, who in the past two weeks had to mourn the loss of three sheep. First, the four-week-old Söder – a black sheep, “very pushy and expressive” – and his mother Ilse Aigner were missing. And since Friday, Scholz has also disappeared: a reserved lamb, “but still stubborn”, with a short, stocky neck. “Just like the real Scholz,” says Frister, on whose pasture the Bavarian political elite and the federal cabinet have been grazing since this year.
Unlike Scholz, Söder is not a member of this cabinet. But it is known that his relationship with the wolf is strained. An act of revenge on the part of the predator, an act of relationship? No, according to the Wunsiedel police: No signs of cracks were discovered. The investigators therefore suspect, like Karl Frister, a theft.
To be on the safe side, the latter warned shepherds in the region about suspicious offers. This creates a dilemma for the thief (or a die-lamb): he cannot keep his stolen sheep dry. So what is he doing?
“That’s a good question,” says Hubert Schricker, head of the Wunsiedel police station. “Either he has a flock of sheep himself. Or they end up in the pan.” Roast lamb is a delicacy. Given their visits to various committees of inquiry, it would not be the first time that Söder and Scholz were grilled. Perhaps in this context it is hopeful that the two always got off lightly there. The same would be wished for the lambs.