''Schwabenhass'' (German for ''hatred against
Swabians'') is a neologism referring to the aversion to the approximately 300,000-strong Swabian diaspora in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
and elsewhere in Germany outside of
Swabia. In 2013, the so-called ''
Spätzle
Spätzle (or spaetzle; ) is a type of pasta or dumpling made with eggs, typically serving as a side for meat dishes with gravy. Commonly associated with Swabia, it is also found in the cuisines of southern Germany and Austria, Switzerland, Hung ...
-streit'' gained nationwide attention.
Historical background
Anti-Swabian sentiment occurs in different ethnic groups in Germany. The people of
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
, who live immediately west of Swabia and share with them the state of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
, have a tradition of rivalry with their eastern neighbors. According to the notion, ''we have nothing against Swabians, at least nothing with sustainable remedy effect''.
Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...
states in his 1895 novel ''
Effi Briest
''Effi Briest'' is a realist novel by Theodor Fontane. Published in book form in 1895, ''Effi Briest'' marks both a watershed and a climax in the poetic realism of literature. It can be thematically compared to other novels on 19th century mar ...
'' that Swabians were a reason to move away from certain neighborhoods in Berlin.
The terms ''Schwob'' and ''
Szwab'' have been used by German Swiss and Poles respectively as an ethnic slur for all Germans.
Similar prejudices applied to the
Donauschwaben
The Danube Swabians (german: Donauschwaben ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in various countries of central-eastern Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in grea ...
in Hungary despising everything German. "Švabe" is a derogatory term for all Germans in modern
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia an ...
.
Role in gentrification
Berlin was not accustomed to
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...
and went through a rather quick modernization process after 1989. Swabians were being deemed as gentrification drivers. “Schwaben” as a term is being used as a synonym for all sorts of well-to-do west German immigrants.
[Anna Loll]
''Schwabenhass in Berlin. Die Super-Wessis und Proto-Yuppies.''
In: ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...
'' vom 5. April 2009.[Gregor Mayntz]
Woher kommt der Schwaben-Hass in Berlin?
''Rheinische Post, 4. Januar 2013''
There have been cases of
arson e.g. on expensive buggies and trendy cars.
Jan Fleischhauer saw "Schwaben-Hass" as a politically correct variant of
xenophobia
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
for left-wing intellectuals hiding otherwise totally unacceptable political positions against foreign infiltration or domination by immigrants.
Prenzlauer Berg
Prenzlauer Berg () is a locality of Berlin, forming the southerly and most urban district of the borough of Pankow. From its founding in 1920 until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a district of Berlin in its own right. However, that year it was incor ...
slogans included
snowclones such as „Schwaben töten“ (Kill Swabians), „Wir sind ein Volk. Und ihr seid ein anderes“ (We're one people. And you are another.) or „Ostberlin wünscht dir eine gute Heimfahrt“ (East Berlin wishes you a good trip home). The police started acting after „Kauft nicht bei Schwab'n“ (don't buy Swabian, a snowclone
on a well-known antisemitic motto) was used as graffiti in Berlin's Rykestrasse.
Thierse controversy
Politician
Wolfgang Thierse
Wolfgang Thierse (; born 22 October 1943) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the 11th President of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2005.
Early life and career
Thierse was born in Breslau (Wrocław in present ...
(SPD) had accused Swabians in Berlin of a lack of adaptive capability and a lack of understanding the 'culture of Berlin'. The notion in a local Berlin newspaper gained nationwide flak. Germans doubt whether Berlin has any (high brow) culture at all, as Berlin 'milieu' stereotypes, based on
Heinrich Zille
Rudolf Heinrich Zille (10 January 1858 – 9 August 1929) was a German illustrator, caricaturist, lithographer and photographer.
Childhood and education
Zille was born in Radeburg near Dresden, son of watchmaker Johann Traugott Zill (''Zille'' ...
's work, are often working-class-derived. Thierse himself does not have any such local background, as a man of letters and Catholic immigrant from the former
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
. ''Cicero'' magazine tried to describe him as an all-German
square "Spießer" due to the controversy. Thierse's use of
Überfremdung
''Überfremdung'' (pronounced ), literally 'over-foreignization', is a German-language term used in politics to suggest an excess of immigration. The word is a nominalization compounded from '' über'' meaning "over" or "overly" and ''fremd'' mea ...
points against Swabians was harshly criticized, and he faced considerable protest.
During this ''Berliner Schwabenstreit'' 2013 various
Spaßguerillas turned up, as „Free Schwabylon“, claiming a
micronation
A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified ...
for Swabian emigrants around Kollwitzplatz, close to Thierses home.
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
reported about various aspects of the conflict, under the title „Swabian Separatists Fling Spätzle to Make Their Point“.
For later reconciliatory efforts, Thierse received a "Goldene Narrenschelle", an order of Carneval from the
Vereinigung Schwäbisch-Alemannischer Narrenzünfte (VSAN), an umbrella organization of
Swabian–Alemannic Fastnacht
The Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht, Fasnacht (in Switzerland) or Fasnat/Faschnat (in Vorarlberg) is the pre-Lenten carnival in Alemannic folklore in Switzerland, southern Germany, Alsace and Vorarlberg.
Etymology
Popular etymology often links ' ...
.
''Thierse erhält Narrenschelle der Schwaben''
''Tagesspiegel'' vom 23. Januar 2013.
Literature
* Bov Bjerg
''Großmaultaschenliebe – Ostberliner Schwabenhass.''
In: Moritz Kienast (Hrsg.): ''I hate Berlin. Unsere überschätzte Hauptstadt.'' Bastei Lübbe, Köln 2011, , p. 161–168.
* Martina Schöller: ''Schwaben in Berlin. Eine ethnographische Studie''. Tübingen 2003
* Martina Schöller: ''Von Schwaben nach Berlin: eine empirische Untersuchung zur Bedeutung von Herkunft für Binnenmigrationen''. Magisterarbeit Universität Tübingen 2004.
* Thomas Bürk, Thomas Götz: ''Schwaben in Berlin: Metamorphosen einer kulturellen Figur und ihrer urbanen Topographien''. In: Beate Binder (Hg.), Moritz Ege (Hg.), Anja Schwanhäußer (Hg.), Jens Wietschorke (Hg.): ''Orte - Situationen - Atmosphären: kulturanalytische Skizzen''. Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2010, p. 307-320, {{ISBN, 978-3-593-39269-1.
References
Anti-German sentiment in Europe
Class discrimination
Pejorative terms for European people
Gentrification
German culture
Stereotypes of the upper class
Urban geography
Swabia