This is the time of year when the Catholic hiking season begins. The first pilgrims are on their way to Altötting and elsewhere, and at least in rural Bavaria, supplications take place (in some places still) shortly before Ascension Day. The faithful walk through the halls and pray for prosperous weather and good harvests. And also see how the rapeseed from Obergruber Sepp is doing (name is used symbolically) is ordered and whether the Hinterberger Franz (as well) only grows corn again to feed his biogas plant. But that’s just by the way.
“Who wants to give, bless and preserve the fruits of the earth” is the actual addressee. It has proven useful not to rely solely on artificial fertilizers.
Pilgrimages are popular, even in increasingly secular times, if you don’t want to search for God, you may at least find yourself or at least have completed the daily 10,000 steps in the fresh air recommended by whoever.
On the other hand, those men who go out on Ascension Day to celebrate Father’s Day don’t even follow the health aspect. It has nothing in common with a procession apart from going into nature, nor is it recorded that Jesus ascended to heaven in a cart and that the disciples celebrated with a few crates of beer. But tradition is tradition and anyone who questions this will get in trouble with Hubert Aiwanger.
As economics minister, he is responsible for brewers and handcart manufacturers. Above all, however, Aiwanger is the guardian of what he defines as “common sense” and makes sure that decent citizens, farmers, Bavarians are not subjugated by Greens, vegans, city dwellers and all the other “crazy people”. Like recently, when he publicly went to the daycare center in Hesse that no longer wanted to do handicrafts with the children for Mother’s and Father’s Day.
Hopefully his children have taken care of any family customs that may exist, and hopefully enough men will pass by the Aiwanger estate on Father’s Day in a suitably drunk state to spare the Bavarian people further tweets about the decline of culture and tradition. But a petition procession might also help there.