Baden vs. Swabia: Aras pleads for Zoff with a wink

Created: 04/27/2022Updated: 04/27/2022, 21:20

Peter Koehler, Chairman of the State Association of Baden in Europe, and President of the State Parliament Muhterem Aras (Greens).

© Uli Deck/dpa/archive image

Under the title "Who we are!

Who are we?”, a conference for the state anniversary took place - without the people of Baden and therefore with a lot of trouble in advance.

The president of the state parliament thinks that competition is good for the country - just like a little humor.

Stuttgart - It is precisely the competition between the people of Baden and Swabia that makes the southwest a strong federal state from the point of view of the President of the State Parliament, Muhterem Aras.

The state's strength is also a result of competition, said the Green politician on Wednesday evening at an event marking the state's 70th anniversary.

Regional affiliation is important and does not contradict cosmopolitanism.

And: "Diversity is not synonymous with harmony." With a view to the competitive behavior between the parts of the state, the President of the State Parliament pleaded for more tongue in cheek.

"Positive energy can also arise in the event of a dispute," said the Green politician on the sidelines of the panel discussion of the German Press Agency.

It is not a problem to argue in a positive sense.

"We benefit from competition on an equal footing." In research and culture, for example, Karlsruhe has come so far in competition with the state capital.

The Southwest has grown together 70 years after it was founded and has every reason to be proud.

The people of Baden had contributed a lot to liberalism in Germany, said Aras.

And: "The people of Baden definitely have the better wine."

The state parliament, the state center for political education and the Swabian Homeland Association, among others, invited to the panel discussion.

The fact that the Baden side had not been involved angered the state association of Baden in Europe.

Aras was therefore the focus of criticism.

She had repeatedly argued that Badeners were also expected to be on stage at the official ceremony in the state parliament on May 4th.

The people of Baden would not miss out on the state anniversary, Aras promised in the evening.

"All parts of the country come into their own."

Despite heavy criticism in advance, the organizers held the conference on Wednesday evening as planned.

The stage cast for the panel discussion "of course left as it is," said the deputy director of the state center for political education, Reinhold Weber, the dpa in advance.

"The matter was raised artificially and then took on a very bad taste with the resolution of the Baden Association in Europe." It was the continuation of a conference from autumn 2020 with the topic "Home", the event was more than one ago year has been planned.

The focus was on immigration and migration.

Aras also spoke of a local event in the evening.

Perhaps one should have differentiated more between the podium discussion and the official ceremony on May 4 beforehand,

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The event entitled “Who we are!

Who are we?

70 years of Baden-Württemberg" had caused a lot of trouble among the people of Baden beforehand.

Baden Greens members of the state parliament also protested against the invitation policy of their party colleague Aras.

The AfD now even wants to debate the “Baden question” in the next plenary session.

The dispute made waves, even if milder tones were recently struck.

On May 5th, Aras wants to meet with the Baden state association for a reconciliation talk.

The background to the dispute is the founding of Baden-Württemberg 70 years ago.

Before the Second World War, the southwest consisted of Baden, Württemberg and Hohenzollern.

After the end of the war, the Allies formed Württemberg-Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Baden.

The prime ministers of Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern at the time wanted a large south-west state in order to be able to keep up with the economic competition of the federal states.

The Baden President, on the other hand, wanted to protect his homeland from too much Swabian influence.

Before a referendum, however, the Bundestag approved a law by 13 CDU deputies from Württemberg under the leadership of the future Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, according to which the south-west was divided into four voting districts and the establishment of a south-western state required majority approval in three of these districts.

It worked - and the people of Baden felt tricked.

Even 70 years after the founding of the state, the hyphen is still very present in many minds in Baden-Württemberg.

As a recent representative survey by the opinion research institute Infratest dimap on behalf of Südwestrundfunk (SWR) revealed, only every second person in Baden-Württemberg still feels connected to the federal state as a whole.

Half of the population (51 percent) sees itself most likely as a native of Baden-Württemberg, a quarter (24 percent) feel as a native of Baden and almost a fifth (18 percent) as a native of Württemberg.

dpa