East Frisian high school diploma

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The East Frisian Abitur originally comes from the East Frisian town of Wittmund . It has been offered there as a tourist attraction since 1978 and has nothing to do with the school leaving certificate. The East Frisian Abitur is made up of several traditional cultural customs . Usually tourists or newcomers take it as a kind of naturalization test. The focus of the approximately four-hour event is on having fun, and you also get to know part of the East Frisian culture. Light and sporty footwear is required to be able to participate in the following disciplines outdoors:

  • Low German (oral exam)
  • Straßeweitboßeln (East Frisian national sport, the Boßelkugel thrown the furthest wins)
  • Spoon drink (hearty schnapps drunk from a tin spoon)
  • Milk the cow
  • Street target Boßeln (East Frisian national sport, similar to target cones)
  • Bessensmieten (shrub broom throwing)
  • Bar running (alternative to padstock jumping)
  • Padstock jumping (trench crossing with the help of a long stick)

The following subjects are then examined in a restaurant:

After completing all disciplines and passing the exam, a high school diploma will be issued and as a reward there will be a glass of genuine East Frisian "bean soup", made according to East Frisian tradition.

The Ostfriesland-Journal has criticized the tourist offer in Wittmund , saying that "everyday practices of a region that are important in terms of cultural history are torn from living contexts and sold as fragments of amusement".

The then Lower Saxony Minister of Economics, Philipp Rösler, responded sarcastically in an interview in February 2009 to the question of whether he was being “recognized as a fully-fledged Lower Saxony”: “At least since I took the East Frisian Abitur”.

According to information from the Wittmunder Tourist Information Office, there had been around 150,000 graduates within three decades by 2007.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jürgen Hasse: Sanfter Tourismus - a development perspective for East Frisian communities ?, in: Ostfriesland-Journal , Heft 7 (1990), pages 50-53, quoted from: Carsten Weiss: Tourism on the East Frisian North Sea Coast Structure and Younger Development , Master's thesis, GRIN Verlag, 2007, ISBN 3-638699-36-6 , ISBN 978-3-638699-36-5
  2. ↑ Tilman Gerwien and Dorit Kowitz: “When it comes to Asians, everyone always thinks they can do karate” , interview with Philipp Rösler, Stern , February 12, 2009
  3. ↑ Thomas Klaus: East Frisian Abitur in high demand , Allgemeine Hotel- und Gastronomie-Zeitung , issue 43 (2007), page 39

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