When the philosopher Karl Valentin was pondering about the foreign, he came to the conclusion that many Munich residents were not unfamiliar with the Hofbräuhaus, but with the Glyptothek and the Pinakothek. It follows that the realm of high culture is rather uncool for a Bierdimpfl. Purely rhetorically, the Dimpfl is moving to the side of the humorous Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, who recently announced that she did not think the name of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) was cool and no longer up to date.
The echo that Roth aroused with her aversion to Prussia was polyphonic. Heaps of ruffians threw up on Twitter, who not only find everything Prussian sucks, but – high time – everything Bavarian too. The question immediately inflated on the internet: When will Bavaria be renamed?
One answer is served weekly by TV noodle Hannes Ringlstetter, who announces after each of his shows on Bavarian television: “Bavaria will not perish!” And if he likes to gossip, you’ll find out from him first. In the case of Prussia, a historical cleansing, as the politician Wolfgang Thierse calls the erasure of historical names, is a little easier. The state of Prussia was dissolved by the Allied Control Council in February 1947, and its art treasures were transferred to a foundation whose name is now unfortunately poisonous.
Bavarian Main State Archives, Bavarian State Painting Collections, Bavarian State Opera, lots of sparkling names that make the cultural state shine. Luckily, it will still be some time before the barbarians of the Cancel Culture can take up the ax here as well. First they have to rename Borussia (Latin for Prussia) Dortmund.
For Bavaria, the problem could be exacerbated by the fact that most posts in state administration have been occupied by Prussian compatriots since the days of the kings. The reason: They don’t think twice and immediately set the tone, while Bayern stand below and hold the ladder for them. The consequences of this are revealed in school lessons. Once the children asked: “What do you mean, teacher?” Now they are reprimanded: “That means ned hoaßt. That means hoaßt”.
The consolation for the friends of the traditional remains that the Bavarian will live on on the moon. There is a crater named after the astronomer Johann Bayer from Donau-Ries.