The fishing out of the Stadtbach in Memmingen is a big event. Less for the fish, but all the more for the fishermen and tens of thousands of spectators every year who accompany the spectacle. In July it’s that time again, and the chairman of the Fishermen’s Day Association has via Memmingen newspaperg announced some innovations: For the first time, a music group will perform in the evenings, playing world hits in Swabian dialect. The coronation of the king of fishermen, who got the biggest trout out of the water, is postponed because of the greater arc of suspense.
The biggest of all innovations, however, is a little smaller than expected. Last year, Christiane Renz from Memmingen, in a lengthy process, won the right for women to be allowed to take part in fishing, which the club has so far refused for historical reasons. Only now apparently no woman wants to go fishing – only Renz has signed up.
The Fishermen’s Day Association proclaimed that it was upholding a centuries-old tradition when it campaigned against the plaintiff’s request to suddenly also allow women to fish out. Two court instances did not want to follow this argument, and after the final victory, Renz’s lawyer spoke of a precedent for equality. Until now, it was reserved for women to stand next to the city stream with buckets and receive the fish from the men’s nets.
“Werner I” still holds the record. from 1975, called “the son-in-law”: His trout weighed 4750 grams. It can also be smaller, for example, Fischerkönig 2018 was “Jürgen IV., the raccoon” with a comparatively modest catch of 1780 grams. Now the victory is equality more of a victory for Christiane Renz’s equality, but of course she can now show it to all men again: Whoever gets the biggest fish out of the water will be crowned again this time, in the evening, before the Swabian world hits.
Should it be “Christiane I.” the history books in Memmingen have to be rewritten twice. Friends of gendering would be happy: It no longer has to be called only fishermen, which was impossible up to now. But also kings. And it doesn’t even need a process through the instances.