Swabian age

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The Swabian age refers to the years of life from the fortieth birthday of a Swabian . It is said that the Swabian only becomes smart , i.e. wise, at the age of 40 . The Swabians are thus subliminally assumed to be "late bloomers". It is a common ritual in Baden-Württemberg and Bavarian Swabia to allude to the Swabian age and the sudden onset of cleverness and wisdom on the fortieth birthday of a Swabian. The 40th birthday is therefore usually celebrated in a special way.

Like many allegations that allude to the intellectual abilities or characteristics of entire ethnic groups , the Swabian age also has a longer history:

Johannes Böhm , called Bohemus (~ 1485–1533 / 1535), one of the first German folklorists and ethnographers , wrote about the Swabians in his description of the manners and customs of all tribes ( Omnium gentium mores et ritus ) published in 1521 : Sero respiscunt - freely translated : "You get it late" and thus justified this prejudice that persisted over the centuries.

In 1781 the Berlin Friedrich Nicolai wrote that the character of the Swabians was often "misinterpreted in the most unreasonable way". He attested to them "leisurelyness, contentment and calm as well as a certain loyalty and an uninhibited nature ... which has nothing of deceit itself and which you do not suspect in others either ..." This has meant that a Swabian is not exactly his advantage perceive. But that was interpreted by the Swabians as stupidity. And that is why the well-known saying that the Swabians would only become wise in the fiftieth (!) Year does not mean a late development of the powers of the mind, but only that they use the mind late to their own advantage.

The regular allusion to the limitedness of the Swabians and to the Swabian age “A Schwôb will schd mit vierzich gscheid” is given an addition by the Swabians and rephrased into an expression of self-confidence: “Mir Schwôbâ wer'n mit vierzich gscheid, diâ andrâ ned en Ewichlichkeit. "

It is noteworthy here that, similar to local scoffs, the original ridicule of the locals is positively received and reevaluated by them. From the mocking names and figures - as in the Swabian prank or the story The Seven Swabians - Swabian identification symbols .

Quotes

  • He, too, did not seem to have entered the Swabian age, but a streak of melancholy on his clean-shaven face indicated that he too had got to know life from its darker side. Paul Heyse : "Against the Current" (4th chapter)
  • If you occasionally scratch the gums with it, he should drive the wisdom tooth before the Swabian age. Eduard Mörike : "The Stuttgart Hutzelmännlein"
  • The man, who has not long passed the "Swabian age" of forty, has, according to general opinion, risen into the very top ranks of Hollywood directors with the new film. TAZ 1996

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