Bielefeld conspiracy

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The Bielefeld Conspiracy or Bielefeld Conspiracy is the subject of a satirical conspiracy theory that claims that the city of Bielefeld does not exist, its existence is only convincingly faked.

This theory first appeared in the German-speaking Usenet in 1994 , has since been circulating as a constant joke on the Internet and has thus become part of Internet folklore that is part of network culture . It is used as an example to demonstrate the self-contained, unassailable argumentation structure of conspiracy theories .

content

The conspiracy theory claims that the city of Bielefeld does not exist, but that all references to its existence are only part and the work of the large-scale Bielefeld conspiracy . The existence of the city of Bielefeld is faked to the population in order to hide something completely different at this point.

The unknown masterminds of the conspiracy are usually only referred to as "YOU" (always in capital letters ). For example, the CIA , the Mossad or extraterrestrials who have disguised their spaceship as a university are suspected behind “YOU” . One version even suspects the entrance to Atlantis at the place of the pretended city .

All the photos from Bielefeld were actually taken in other cities and partially assembled into a fictional cityscape. The travel times of trains that need surprisingly little time to stop at the alleged Bielefeld train station are also given as evidence. Cars with the location designation BI on the license plate would also only be sent on the journey through Germany for camouflage purposes.

origin

At a student party in 1993, an acquaintance of the German computer scientist Achim Held, who was a computer science student in Kiel at the time, slipped the phrase “That doesn't exist” when someone from Bielefeld confronted him. The idea of ​​a corresponding conspiracy was spun on in the Held environment, who also included a reader of esoteric magazines. The fact that in autumn 1993 the motorway exits to Bielefeld were temporarily closed due to major construction work also played a role. The first known public mention of the Bielefeld conspiracy comes from Held and was published on May 16, 1994 on Usenet in the newsgroup de.talk.bizarre . Held's intention was to ridicule common conspiracy theories . The city was chosen by chance.

In texts of conspiracy theory, the treacherous name Bielefeld is usually replaced by B * e * e * e * d, B ** l * f * ld, Blfld , Bielefake or B-word as a precaution .

On the tenth anniversary of the conspiracy theory, ZDF conducted an interview with Achim Held, in which he reported on the history of the story. It is unknown whether the 1969 published history of America, there is not by Peter Bichsel has played a role in the development and whether there are connections to Carl Zuckmayer's drama The song in the furnace (1956, quote: "We'll meet again - God willing. […] And if not in this world, then maybe in Bielefeld. ”) Or Udo Lindenberg's song“ Rätselhaftes Bielefeld ”(1976, quote:“ And if we don't see each other in this world, then we'll see each other in Bielefeld! ”).

reception

In 2010 a film was released with the title The Bielefeld Conspiracy in the style of an agent thriller based on the text of Held, in which Held himself plays. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Walden. The producers were Bielefeld Marketing and the media education laboratory of Bielefeld University under the direction of Thomas Walden and Fabio Magnifico . It was filmed from May 2009 "in Greece and in Bielefeld". The film premiered on June 2, 2010 in the Cinemaxx Bielefeld. The novel of the first part received a sequel in 2012 under the title Dragon Age in Bielefeld: Task 2 of the Bielefeld Conspiracy . This novel was played in seven episodes from May 2012 to April 2013 in Bielefeld as a theater series.

The film Bielefeld - die in style , also based on the Bielefeld Conspiracy , premiered on April 18, 2011 in Munich. The crime comedy equates truth with Bielefeld . Since Bielefeld does not exist according to the Bielefeld conspiracy, there is also no clear truth. The film was shot under the direction of Daniel Mechling with Mirjam Novak and Cecilia Lanzi from April 2010 in Munich.

The cartoonist Ralph Ruthe , who was born in Bielefeld, took up the subject in the small video witness protection program . In the television series Wilsberg of ZDF , the subject was in the episodes Presumed Innocent and The Bielefeld Conspiracy taken. At the presentation of the German Social Prize in November 2012 in Bielefeld, Chancellor Angela Merkel mentioned public conversations with the suffix “... if it exists” and added: “I had the impression that I was there”.

The Bielefeld conspiracy is perceived differently by the city of Bielefeld itself. On the one hand, inquiries in the form of e-mails create a need for processing, on the other hand, the topic is taken up by city marketing. For example, the city's 800th anniversary in 2014 had the motto That doesn't exist . The Bielefeld City Theater has taken on the subject in the play "Conspirators - How Real is Reality?" By Tobias Rausch .

The Israeli director Sapir Heller created the Das Bieleveld project in a Munich gallery in 2015 . A multimedia installation reveals the background to the various myths and conspiracy theories that surround this city. Known and renowned artists exhibit performative their work from around the question of the existence and identity of their homeland. “After what Bieleveld really is. If it is. "

On January 25, 2017, the place name Bielefeld was changed to "Bielefeld Conspiracy" on Facebook. First attempts at explanation by the site operator indicated that there must have been a consensus on the renaming in the user-specific part of the network, which led to the renaming of the place name. According to Mimikama , the names Bielefeld and Bielefeld Conspiracy have been combined in the database to form the name Bielefeld Conspiracy. Something similar had already happened in the past when Germany became Langenfeld-Thuringia . A short time later the correct name was restored.

In August 2019, Bielefeld City Marketing announced a prize of one million euros under the name “The Bielefeldmillion” for those who can provide conclusive evidence of the city's nonexistence. The topic has received media coverage around the world (over 500 mentions including BBC , Radio Canada , The Sydney Morning Herald, and the New York Post ). On September 17th the competition was declared over: no participant could have proven the non-existence of the city and the money remains untouched. The city therefore sees its existence as conclusively proven and the conspiracy ended. In her memory, a boulder was set up in Bielefeld's old town near the Leineweber monument .

literature

  • Günther Butkus (Ed.): Enigmatic Bielefeld. The conspiracy . Pendragon, Bielefeld 2010, ISBN 978-3-86532-188-6 .
  • Thomas Walden: The Bielefeld Conspiracy. The novel about the film . Pendragon, Bielefeld 2010, ISBN 978-3-86532-194-7 .
  • Thomas Walden: Dragon Age in Bielefeld: Task 2 of the Bielefeld Conspiracy . tredition, Bielefeld 2012, ISBN 978-3-8472-3859-1 .
  • Karl-Heinz von Halle (pseudonym): Does Bielefeld exist or does Bielefeld not exist? Eichborn-Verlag, Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-8479-0546-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Katharina Miklis: From Bielefeld? That's impossible! In: Friday . April 7, 2010, accessed September 6, 2012 .
  2. ↑ a b "I underestimated the Bielefeld conspiracy" (interview with Achim Held) , one day on Spiegel Online from May 15, 2014.
  3. ↑ Achim Held: The Bielefeld Conspiracy. In: de.talk.bizarre. Google Groups, May 16, 1994, accessed September 6, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Martin Motzkau: “It doesn't exist at all”: The man behind the great Bielefeld conspiracy. In: Welt Online . January 25, 2013, accessed March 4, 2013 .
  5. ↑ a b Mario Sixtus: The city that must not be. In: Sixtus.net. June 5, 2004, archived from the original on January 31, 2008 ; Retrieved September 6, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Peter Bichsel : "America does not exist". In: Children's Stories. Luchterhand-Verlag 1969. Suhrkamp Verlag 1997; 12th edition 1997. ISBN 978-3-518-39142-6
  7. ↑ America does not exist. In: Quetzal Leipzig
  8. ↑ taz article from October 13, 2010
  9. ↑ Wikiquote: Bielefeld
  10. ↑ The Bielefeld conspiracy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  11. ↑ A city and its joke: “Bielefeld Conspiracy” is filmed. In: Spiegel Online . February 13, 2009, accessed September 6, 2012 .
  12. ↑ "Bielefake" -Satire: We only see in this world ... In: Spiegel Online . June 4, 2010, accessed September 6, 2012 .
  13. ^ The Bielefeld Conspiracy. Bielefeld University, March 11, 2010, accessed on September 6, 2012 .
  14. ^ Film: "The Bielefeld Conspiracy" starts in the cinema. In: Focus Online . June 2, 2010, accessed September 6, 2012 .
  15. ↑ Warning: Conspiracy! ( Memento from May 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ^ Rouven Ridder: Dragon time in Bielefeld. Neue Westfälische, June 28, 2012.
  17. ^ Dragon Age in Bielefeld. (No longer available online.) Trashtheater Bielefeld, archived from the original on November 21, 2016 ; accessed on November 21, 2016 .
  18. ↑ Bielefeld - die in style in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  19. ^ Daniel Mechling - Portfolio / Own projects. In: Daniel Mechling. April 20, 2011, archived from the original on October 4, 2013 ; Retrieved October 1, 2013 .
  20. ↑ First showing of amateur film in Munich's Gloria Palast: Premiere of “Bielefeld - Die in Style” a complete success. In: News Munich. April 19, 2011, accessed September 6, 2012 .
  21. ↑ Ralph Ruthe : Witness Protection Program. (Online video) In: YouTube . October 15, 2007, accessed September 6, 2012 .
  22. ^ "Wilsberg": Two thrillers and an internet interlude. In: Westfälische Nachrichten . January 26, 2012, accessed September 6, 2012 .
  23. ↑ Merkel also doubts Bielefeld's existence. In: The world . November 27, 2012, accessed January 25, 2013 .
  24. ↑ 800 years of Bielefeld - that doesn't exist! Bielefeld Stadtmarketing GmbH, archived from the original on December 25, 2011 ; Retrieved September 6, 2012 .
  25. ↑ Conspirators - How Real is Reality? (No longer available online.) Theater Bielefeld , archived from the original on February 20, 2015 ; accessed on February 20, 2015 .
  26. ↑ The Bieleveld project. In: facebook . Retrieved June 6, 2015 .
  27. ↑ Angela Wiese, Jens Reichenbach: Bielefeld is suddenly called the Bielefeld Conspiracy. In: Neue Westfälische , January 26, 2017, accessed on January 26, 2017.
  28. ↑ Nadine Grunewald: On Facebook, Bielefeld is now called the Bielefeld Conspiracy. In: Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung , January 26, 2017, accessed on January 26, 2017.
  29. ↑ Bielefeld Conspiracy on Facebook! In: ZDDK / minikama , January 26, 2017, accessed on January 26, 2017.
  30. ^ WDR: Prize money of 1 million euros for evidence of the non-existence of Bielefeld
  31. ^ Bielefeld campaign: Conspiracy theory goes viral. destinet.de, accessed on August 28, 2019.
  32. ↑ Bielefeldmillion - The End of a Conspiracy, accessed on September 5, 2019
  33. ↑ Bielefeld does exist - the million doesn't . In: tagesschau.de . September 17, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2019.

Coordinates: 52 ° 1 ′ 17.5 ″  N , 8 ° 32 ′ 5.9 ″  E