It was almost exactly nine years ago that so-called patriotic Europeans met on German streets for the first time to warn against what they saw as the threat of Islamization in the West. The patriots went by the acronym Pegida, carried black, red and gold flags and fishing hats; Again and again on Mondays they trumpeted and shouted their slogans in the often East German landscape. And perhaps now – nine years later – they see their warnings confirmed. Because in the competition for the ninth Upper Franconian word of the year In all seriousness, there are two men sitting there – wearing headscarves!
Is the headscarfization of Upper Franconia looming here? No, all clear. It is simply a comedic interlude by the two eulogists following the announcement of the winning word last Sunday. The headscarf men are called Henry Schramm, District Council President of Upper Franconia, and Alexander Herrmann, Upper Franconian star chef. And the word is: Meichela. In standard German: headscarf.
Of course, Meichela did not prevail against the more than 330 competitor words submitted by Upper Franconia because of the supposedly progressive Islamization. But because the headscarf has a long tradition among women in the region and has undergone a remarkable transformation as a word in Upper Franconia.
The original form “Meichel”, as the administrative district explains in a statement, was initially a shortened version of the female first name Margaretha and later developed into the general name for girls. Because only these people wore the headscarf, Meichela soon became the name of the textile on the female head.
“This year, our word is a beautiful example of the fact that language is alive and has continued to develop in people’s everyday lives,” District Council President Schramm is quoted as saying in the statement. The Greinmeichela, Franconian for: crybaby, is also known today. This, in turn, is such a German word that the self-proclaimed patriotic Europeans can certainly stop gasping and blow through it in peace. The West has probably not perished yet.