Swabian coup
Historically and in the predominant use of the term Schwabenstreich in German-speaking countries, it is a foolish or unskillful act. This negative or humorous connotation is often used together with other negative terms (see Entenklemmer ).
Above all in the Swabian-speaking world , on the other hand, the expression can also denote an often daring action that requires certain intellectual abilities and usually has an advantageous outcome for the person involved. However, the negative connotation is also understood in this language area.
Negative connotation
The negative connotation, which is the older one, has its origin in the stories about the clumsy behavior of the seven Swabians , which can be traced back to a master song by Hans Sachs . A “Swabian coup” describes a foolish, silly way of acting. Because of the master song, the Swabians have long been the target of ridicule from other German tribes for their alleged clumsiness.
This connotation is still used today in German-speaking media, both nationally and in the Swabian-speaking area itself.
Positive connotation
The Swabian, more recent, usage has its origin in a legend from the time of Emperor Barbarossa (translated: red beard). It was Friedrich I , Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1152 to 1190 . This use of the term "Schwabenstreich" became known through the ballad " Schwäbische Kunde " (also erroneously called "Der wackere Schwabe") by the Swabian poet Johann Ludwig Uhland , which was one of the standard works of school textbook literature that took up this legend in order to avoid the common negative To counter the connotation with a heroic story. Since then, this has been viewed as an authentic version within Swabian.
The core of the legend is about a knight who could not follow the army with his exhausted horse and was attacked by enemy soldiers ( Turks ). He fought fiercely, with a horse on one hand and a sword in the other, and hit an opponent in such a way that his blow split him from the head through the body and penetrated through the saddle deep into the horse's back.
In Uhland's poem, this knight became a Swabian. Since then the winged word has been :
- "On the right you can see how to the left / half a Turk sinking down."
Then the rest of the enemy left him.
The poem goes on to say:
- “He (the emperor) said: Say, my knight worthy! / Who taught you such pranks?
- The hero does not think too long: / The pranks are on our side;
- they are known throughout the empire / they are just called Swabian pranks. "
This heroic deed was documented by the preacher Abraham a Sancta Clara in 1683 in his work “Auff, auff, you Christians!”. From 1189–1190 it is to be classified as part of the Third Crusade of Friedrich I.
Further current usage of the term
From July 2010 the term was also used for a protest against Stuttgart 21 . The action was initiated by Walter Sittler and Volker Lösch on the Stuttgart market square during a demonstration against Stuttgart 21 . Everyone who takes part in the Swabian prank is supposed to be "infernally loud" for a minute at 7:00 p.m., wherever they are.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung pointed to the comedy of the term Schwabenstreich, which resulted from its original description of the fight of the Swabians against a monster that actually turns out to be a rabbit.
Web links
- Digital dictionary of the German language : "Schwabenstreich"
- The brave Swabian (Swabian customer)
- Sagen.at
- Stuttgarter Nachrichten about the start of the Swabian coup
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joe Bauer: Damn it . In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten (online edition), August 30, 2010, accessed on June 7, 2011.
- ↑ Anonymus : The Swabians in The History of People's Humor. before 1923, reissued by Albrecht Keller, NABU Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-148-64400-4 .
- ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. August 27, 2010, p. 1
- ↑ Joe Bauer in Town: Damned . stuttgarter-nachrichten.de. September 6, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
- ↑ So that Germany doesn't get stupid. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . No. 198, August 27, 2010, p. 1.