There used to be fierce competition among caravan owners and mobile home drivers to see who had the most stickers on their holiday vehicle. Sometimes you can still see them driving around with the stickers: the big moose from Lapland is almost always there, as is the “Tête de maure”, the Corsican head. Next to it all sorts of flags and license plates from all over Europe, in between the city coat of arms of Königswinter, inevitably the silhouette of Sylt resembling black bird shit, maybe even the badge of the Ruhrbrücke campsite and the self-adhesive proof that you’ve already been to Land’s End. Globetrotters are not free from boasting and competitiveness.
On the other hand, those people who drive advertising halfway around the world for free are of course worth their weight in gold for the tourism offices and marketing heads of the tourist resorts. How annoying it is when you don’t have any stickers in stock and have to disappoint the well-travelled collector. Because the free space on the trailer is then reserved for the competitors.
That’s roughly what happened to District Administrator Christoph Göbel when tapping the strong beer in Taufkirchen. The Gstanzl singer Hubert Mittermeier, alias Erdäpfekraut, had just recited his last rhyme in the Ritter-Hilprand-Hof when he stepped up to the district administrator’s table. The most striking thing about his outfit: the long black frock coat was covered with pins all over. Where the man with his mocking song has appeared everywhere! Göbel was impressed and at the same time was visibly nervous. Because now the artist wanted another needle from the district administrator, one from the district of Munich.
Clearly, the coat of arms was required here: the Bavarian rhombuses on the left, black and gold on the right, above the slanting silver wave bar, which is supposed to symbolize the Isar. Göbel first grabbed his lapel. But there was nothing. He had left the house without a needle. No wave bar. No black, no gold. Even in the pockets of his jacket there was an ebb of tin diamonds. Meanwhile, the Gstanzl singer showed him his opulent collection. Particularly bitter for Göbel: on the left the coat of arms from Fürstenfeldbruck, next to it Dachau. Oh yes, Ebersberg is already involved. What else did Göbel have to do other than promise to deliver by post. It’s definitely not going to happen to him again. So if you’re wondering why the district administrator has baggy jacket pockets: you have to be able to outperform the competition at any time.