Markus Söder said he was sad that “Fastnacht in Franconia” will not take place live this year.
Traditionally, political issues are joked there.
Würzburg - The Bavarian Prime Minister is known for particularly original costumes - for example as punk, Edmund Stoiber or the comic characters Homer Simpson and Shrek.
But he will also miss the costumes of other politicians this year.
Due to the corona pandemic, "Carnival in Franconia" was recorded for the first time since 1987 and was broadcast on BR on Friday evening at 8:15 pm.
A security concept was previously worked out with the University of Würzburg.
For Markus Söder * it was the first time in many years that he only followed the ceremonial meeting on television and not live in Veitshöchheim, said the CSU head of the newspaper "Main-Post".
“Of course I will miss the evening with its joy and the many encounters.
You always look to see who is wearing a particularly great costume.
There are real eye-catchers, but there are always a few that can still be improved. "
Instead, the native Franconian helps himself with his imagination: "So this year I just imagine the costumes (Minister of Economic Affairs) Hubert Aiwanger or (Greens parliamentary group leader) Katharina Schulze would have been in - and then I'm just looking forward to the next year."
"Carnival in Franconia": Donald Trump and the corona pandemic
In order to at least keep tradition a little despite the corona pandemic *, extras are sitting in the audience on Friday evening, holding up signs with politician faces.
With long hair we wouldn't even recognize the politicians, said cabaret artist Martin Raussau from the duo “Waltraud & Mariechen”, alluding to the closed hairdressers.
When performing in the empty hall, at least the cameramen and sound technicians would have reacted to their jokes.
Instead of banal slapstick, "a bit of thoughtfulness with thoroughly critical thoughts about what we are experiencing in these months", said Tassilo Forchheimer, head of the BR-Studio Franken, at a press conference.
The shooting was already completed last Saturday, but “capers of all kinds” can be built into the program up to and including Friday.
"We have left a nice gap, where we take up on a daily basis what will happen in politics," said BR editor Rüdiger Baumann.
“So politicians shouldn't get cocky.” *
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