Schwaben – A Unique Germanic People : Part II Culture and People

[Y_Participant 4591]

This post is for PistolPete for the Yuletide Season. Hope you like it PP.

Culture

After the disintegration of the Duchy of Swabia, a Swabian cultural identity and sense of cultural unity (as distinct from its Alemannic neighbours) survived, expressed in the formation of the Swabian League of Cities in the 14th century CE, the Swabian League of 1488 CE, and the establishment of the Swabian Circle in 1512 CE. During this time, a division of culture and identity developed between Swabia and both the Margraviate of Baden to the west and the Swiss Confederacy to the south.

Swabian culture retains many elements common to Alemannic tradition, notably the carnival traditions forming the Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht.

There are 8 million Swabians living in Germany. Most of them in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the South, some even in Bavaria all called “Ländle” (dialect form for small land). The de-facto capital of the “Ländle” is said to be Stuttgart.

Swabian stereotypes persist in contemporary Germany, as expressed e.g. in the “Schwabenhass” conflict (surrounding gentrification in Berlin due to the large number of well-to-do Swabians moving to the capital), or a remark by chancellor Angela Merkel in praise of the “thrifty Swabian housewife”.

Swabians speak Swabian German, a branch of the Alemannic group of German dialects and cited as “40 percent intelligible” to speakers of Standard German not just because of its pronunciation but because it contains vocabulary that differs from Standard German. As an ethno-linguistic group, Swabians are closely related to other speakers of Alemannic German, i.e. Badeners, Alsatians, and German-speaking Swiss

It is traditionally spoken in the upper Neckar basin (upstream of Heilbronn), along the upper Danube between Tuttlingen and Donauwörth, and on the left bank of the Lech, in an area centered on the Swabian Alps roughly stretching from Stuttgart to Augsburg. SIL Ethnologue cites estimate 819,000 Swabian speakers as of 2006.

The Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Commerce launched an advertising campaign with the slogan “Wir können alles. Außer Hochdeutsch.” which means “We can [do] everything. Except [speak] Standard German” to boost Swabian pride for their dialect and industrial achievements. However, it failed to impress Northern Germans and neighboring Baden

People

Swabians invented the car, the newspaper, bras.

There is the Swabian “Kehrwoche”, a house cleaning tradition which ruins every Saturday, but the houses and sidewalks are really clean then.

Swabians are the ‘German Scots’. Not stingy but one of the leading life mottos is “schaffe, schaffe, Häusle baue” which means: “work, work, build a house”. So yes, they are the thrifty and hardworking Germans.

They still love to party. Twice a year there’s a big funfair at Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart and the one in autumn is the second largest beer festival in the world after the Oktoberfest in Munich
.
I haven’t even started talking about the tasty food, the “Spätzle”, the “Maultaschen” or the “Butterbrezeln”. Swabian cuisine is known for its hearty dishes and soups. Yes, you’ll find some wursts to grill (or just eat cold), but they ain’t gonna have the rib-sticking power like Maultaschen, which is like South German ravioli. I would also make sure to try the Schupfnudeln, a potato dumpling that looks a lot like a finger.

The recipes to the incredible variety of Swabian food is here: http://www2.mpip-mainz.mpg.de/~pleiner/recipe.html

That brings me to the brilliant minds that’ve come out of Swabia.

Generalfeldmarschall (Iron Cross I) Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel The Desert Fox was from Heidenheim
Albert Einstein (although not a Swabian) was born in Ulm
Charlemagne’s (Charles The Great) father is a Swabian, Johannes Kepler, astronomer and mathematician
Nobel Prize winning writer, Hermann Hesse lived in Gaienhofen with his wife & sons.
Claus von Stauffenberg was also born in Swabia. The town of Jettingen, to be exact.
The Black Devil, Erich Hartmann, the World War II Flying Ace (and the most decorated pilot anywhere, even above the Red Baron at 352) was born in Weissach
Gottlieb Daimler was born in the Swabian town of Schorndorf, located just 26km east of Stuttgart and bordering Göppingen. And for a bit of fun, it’s home to a Comics Museum.

One last thing you have to know about the Swabians: “Net bruddelt ischt gnug globt” which means: Not complaining it’s the biggest compliment you’ll ever likely to get.

I hope you all liked our travel to Swabia.

Merry Christmas Pete – God Bless

[PistolPeteParticipant 27143]

Many thanks Yumbo you put a lot of work into that. Yes other Germans tend to look down on us and make us the brunt of jokes—they think we’re prudish, cheap with money, and overly serious when if fact we are moral, thrifty, hard working.

AND to PROVE my Schwaben–ness I must take issue! AHHHHHH Hartmann was indeed the most successful fighter pilot in history, made all the more amazing is the fact her really didn’t get rolling until 1942 BUT he is not the highest decorated pilot UH OH! I’ll give you a hint but that is all. As you no doubt know the Diamonds to the Knights cross is the highest award for gallantry—or is it? The was awarded–to a pilot a GOLD knights cross with diamonds; only one was ever awarded and this was done specifically for this pilot alone—HA HA GUESS WHO my friend!

[PistolPeteParticipant 27143]

Schupfnudeln—you got me there I didn’t know what that was so I looked it up—under my German Grand mother recipes. Showed a big bowl of these fried “fingers” with Kraut and bacon! My mouth is watering.

Merry Christmas my friend—as I live alone its up to me to make Christmas dinner and this year I’m going all OUT—no beenie-weenie, no mac and cheese NOT THIS YEAR! Instead Baked Black forest ham, Potato Pancakes WITH Apple sauce and a friend picked me up a jar (imported) of Deutsche Kuche with apples! YUM!

Heard from my sister, and her husband who is polish. Tonight they did the traditional thing Borscht and fish. Since they live on the west coast the fish was salmon (YUCK) and I dutifully pointed out the fish needed to be salted herring in cream sauce to which she said (YUCK)

Since they are wealthy dinner for them tomorrow will be standing rib roast, stuffed crab etc.—hey if you can afford it you go!

[Y_Participant 4591]

Merry Christmas Pete. It was a pleasure doing this for you.

Hope you like this and I have a lot of admiration for your people ever since I found out how extraordinary they were (since I read about Kepler in my teens).

Your people are indeed a class act as history shows. Your Xmas dinner sounds great – my mouth was watering when I looked up the recipes.

Your question has me stumped and you have brains I could borrow for sure- I guess you mean the Knight’s Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. I recall only one name – The Eagle of the Eastern Front Hans Ulrich Rudel. (My WWII is very rusty 🙂 )

Know things are a bit hard on you this year so hope this will cheer you up a bit.

[PistolPeteParticipant 27143]

NOT RUSTY AT ALL You hit it right on the mark! Yes indeed Mr. Hans (shamelessly self-promoting) Rudel. But hell it ain’t bragging if you can do it! If you get a chance check out his book. He’s terribly hard and unkind to the Romanians but it is still a good read.

Have a good Christmas “Down Under”. In honor of your excellent research I pulled out my copy of a recording of the Organ in Sydney’s opera house—Largest direct tracker instrument on the planet! It rocks the house.

[Y_Participant 4591]

have a good one my friend and take care of yourself – I’ll talk to you again soon – my next piece in Money will p~~~ off a lot of people. Haha.

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