Red Baron's Blog

Sunday, February 22, 2026

Brezel Story

Red Baron blogged about the baked goodie, appreciated not only by toddlers in their strollers but also by adults, when served crispy and buttered. In 2013, you read a Pretzel Story; now I will tell you a Brezel Story.

The new story starts with a gruesome experience. This is what you get served as a 'bretzel au beurre' in the Voiture Restaurant of the SBB (Swiss Rail).

This indefinable pastry comes out of the fridge, is soft and without bite. Above all, the essential feature of a genuine Brezel is missing: The pastry does not have the shape through which the sun shines thrice.

Und wer hat's erfunden? The Swiss, though they successfully invented Ricola, the herbal candy.

So, who invented the real Brezel? There are various regions and places from Alsace to Tyrol that claim to have been the first to twist the dough in the elegant way.

The Swabian city of Bad Urach forwards the best legend about the original Brezel reported by the Badische Zeitung:

A baker named Frieder had fallen out of favor with Count Eberhard* im Bart. Frieder had committed a crime and was to be executed. The count gave him one last chance, coupled with a nearly impossible task: he was to shape a loaf of bread through which the sun would shine thrice.
*Earlier times glorified Eberhard as a benevolent sovereign, while modern historical research describes him as an anti-Semite.

The baker was lost. He ran back and forth in his bakery, while his wife stood in front of him with her arms crossed. That was the saving thought; the baker skillfully twisted the thin dough until it had the shape of today's Brezel. Count Eberhard, who resided in Urach at the time, was delighted when his subject presented him with the first Brezel. It has hardly changed since then - a perfect classic.

Still, there are regional differences in the form of the Brezel.

Bavarian Brezn with highly attached arms (©Wikipedia)

Swabian Brezel with arms attached at the bottom. Note the hernia in the belly. (©Guido Augustin)

Today, the easier-to-form Bavarian Brezn has pushed the Swabian Brezel out of the market, as a 2023 blog confirmed.

There is a second place in Swabia that claims to be the originator of the Brezel. Indeed, the coat of arms of Altenriet shows two Bavarian (!) Brezn and a dachshund. To back up their claim, the Altenrieter hold an annual Brezelmarkt on Palm Sunday.

The former mayor of Stuttgart, Manfred Rommel*, once wrote the following conciliatory-sounding verses about the baked wonder:
*Son of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, known as the Desert Fox.

The wisdom of the Swabians is no mystery;
The solution is called the lye pretzel.
It illuminates with the torch of wisdom,
The mind of the greatest dachshund.

Des Schwaben Klugheit ist kein Rätsel.
Die Lösung heißt die Laugenbrezel.
Sie erleuchtet mit der Weisheit Fackel,
Den Verstand vom größten Dackel.

Does Rummel support the Altenrieter in their claim to the primogeniture? In no way, for the last line of his quatrain is sneaky: In Swabian German, a Dackel is a mentally challenged person.

Friday, February 20, 2026

Ship of Fools

Fools looking backward populate a ship without sails or a rudder.

Sebastian Brant, Professor beider Rechte (canon and civil law) at Basel University, wrote the book titled Daß Narrenschyff ad Narragoniam in 1494, on the eve of the Reformation.

In his lecture 'The fool as a guide to the right way of life', Professor Nikolaus Henkel gave examples of pages from Brant's book. He started with the first one, alluding to a Büchernarr (sic! a fool obsessed with books), which lamely translates into English as 'bibliomaniac'.

The title of the page 'Of Useless Books' fits Red Baron well.

I walk ahead in the dance of fools,
For I see many books around me,
Which I neither read nor understand.

Of Useless Books

That I sit at the front of the ship,
That truly has a special purpose.
This is not without reason:
I always rely on books,
I have a great treasure trove of books,
Even if I rarely understand a word,
I still hold them in high esteem:
I am happy to ward the flies off them.
When people talk about the sciences,
I say: "I have them at home!"
For it is enough for me
to be surrounded by books.

...

Since I know little Latin.
I know that vinum means "wine,"
Gucklus a fool,
And that I am called "domine doctor!"
My ears are hidden,
Otherwise, one would soon see the miller's animal.

Im Narrentanz voran ich gehe,
Da ich viel Bücher um mich sehe,
Die ich nicht lese und verstehe.

Von unnützen Büchern

Daß ich im Schiffe vornan sitz,
Das hat fürwahr besondern Witz.
Nicht ohne Ursache ist das:
Auf Bücher ich mich stets verlaß,
Von Büchern hab ich großen Hort,
Versteh ich selten auch ein Wort,
So halt ich sie doch hoch in Ehren:
Will ihnen gern die Fliegen wehren.
Wo man von Wissenschaften reden tut,
Sprech ich: »Daheim hab ich sie gut!«
Denn es genügt schon meinem Sinn,
Wenn ich umringt von Büchern bin.

...

Dieweil ich wenig kann Latein.
Ich weiß, daß vinum heißet »Wein«,
Gucklus ein Gauch,
Und daß ich heiß': »domine doctor!«
Die Ohren sind verborgen mir,
Sonst sah man bald des Müllers Tier.

The other example Professor Henkel showed concerns Procrastination, an art we are all familiar with, and Red Baron in particular with apartment keeping.

Whoever sings "cras, cras*" like a raven
Will remain a fool until the grave;
Tomorrow he will have an even bigger cap.
*lat. tomorrow

On Seeking Procrastination

He is a fool whom God commands
To mend his ways today
And renounce his sins,
To embrace a better life,
And who cannot mend his ways right away,
No, he sets himself a deadline for the next day
And sings "cras, cras!" like the raven,
Not knowing if he will live that long.
Many fools have been lost,
Who always sang, "Tomorrow! Tomorrow!"
As for sin and folly,
People rush to them as soon as possible.
As for God and doing what is right,
That creeps up slowly now,
People always seek to postpone it.
"Tomorrow is better to confess than today!
We'll learn to do right tomorrow!"
So says many a lost son...
That same tomorrow never comes,
It flees and melts like snow;
Only when the soul cannot remain,
Then tomorrow dawns,
Then the body is oppressed by pain,
So that it does not think of the soul.
So also in the desert perished
Many Jews*, not a single one
Was to reach that land
Which God promised with a gentle hand.
Those who are not capable of repentance today
Will have even more to suffer tomorrow.
Those whom God's voice calls today
Do not know whether it will call them tomorrow.
Therefore, many thousands are now lost.
Who swore to better themselves tomorrow!
*4. Moses 14:22 f

Wer singt »cras, cras*« gleichwie ein Rab.
Der bleibt ein Narr bis hin zum Grab.
Hat morgen eine noch größere Kapp.
*lat. morgen

Vom Aufschubsuchen

Der ist ein Narr, dem Gott gebeut,
Daß er sich bessern soll noch heut
Und soll von seinen Sünden lassen,
Ein besser Leben anzufassen,
Und der nicht gleich sich bessern mag,
Nein, Frist sich setzt zum andern Tag
Und singt »cras, cras!« des Raben Sang,
Und weiß nicht, ob er lebt so lang.
Viel Narren sind verlorngegangen,
Die allzeit: »Morgen! Morgen!« sangen.
Was Sünd und Narrheit sonst angeht,
Da eilt man zu so früh wie spät;
Was Gott betrifft und Rechtes tun,
Das schleicht gar langsam näher nun,
Dem suchen Aufschub stets die Leute.
»Morgen ist besser beichten denn heute!
Wir lernen Rechttun morgen schon!«
So spricht gar mancher verlorener Sohn.
Derselbe Morgen kommt nimmer je,
Er flieht und schmilzt gleichwie der Schnee;
Erst wenn die Seel nicht bleiben kann,
Dann bricht der morgige Tag heran,
Dann wird von Schmerz der Leib bedrängt,
Daß er nicht an die Seele denkt.
So sind auch in der Wüste vergangen
Der Juden viel*; es sollte gelangen
Kein einziger in jenes Land,
Das Gott verhieß mit milder Hand*.
Wer heut nicht fähig zur Reue ist,
Hat morgen noch mehr, was ihm gebrist.
Wen heute beruft die Gottesstimm,
Weiß nicht, ob sie ruft morgen ihm,
Drum sind viel Tausend jetzt verloren,
Die morgen sich zu bessern schworen!
*4. Moses 14, 22 f.

In view of my advanced age, I added the following page.

I'm already standing close to the pit,
The executioner's knife is stabbing me in the ass*,
But I won't give up my foolishness!

About Old Fools

Foolishness won't let me be old;
I am very old, but completely unwise,
A wicked child of a hundred* years,
Show the bells to the inexperienced,
I give the children a command
And make myself a will,
Which I will regret after my death.
With bad examples and knowledge
I drive what my youth learned.
That my wickedness may reap honor,
I wish and boast boldly of shame,
How I have ruined all the lands
and made much water murky;
I always practice evil,
I am sorry that I can no longer accomplish it as before.
But what I can no longer do
Should remain recommended to my Heinz.
*Eine moderne Beschreibung der Todesnähe
ist "mit einem Fuß im Grabe stehen".

Schon steh ich an der Grube dicht,
Im Arsch das Schindermesser* sticht
Doch meine Narrheit laß ich nicht!

Von alten Narren

Die Narrheit läßt mich nicht sein greis;
Ich bin sehr alt, doch ganz unweis,
Ein böses Kind von hundert Jahren,
Zeig dem die Schellen, der unerfahren,
Den Kindern geb ich Regiment
Und mach mir selbst ein Testament,
Das wird nach meinem Tod mir leid.
Mit schlechtem Beispiel und Bescheid
Treib ich, was meine Jugend lernte;
Daß meine Schlechtigkeit Ehre ernte,
Wünsch ich und rühm mich dreist der Schande,
Wie ich beschissen alle Lande
Und hab gemacht viel Wasser trübe;
Im Schlechten ich mich allzeit übe,
Es tut mir leid, daß ichs nicht mehr Vollbringen kann so wie vorher.
Doch was ich jetzt nicht mehr kann treiben,
Soll meinem Heinz empfohlen bleiben;
*A modern description of being close to the end
is "having one foot in the grave."

Well, there are two corrections to the text: I am not 100 but only 90 years old, and my son, named Andreas, passed away and won't inherit anything.

Professor Henkel ended his lecture paying homage to a colleague and friend who died in 2009. Manfred Lemmer was Professor of German literature at the University of Halle in the former GDR.

Manfred Lemmer at the Basler Fasnet 1995.
Chancellor Helmut Kohl holds a copy of the Narrenschiff edition
published by Professor Lemmer in his hands.

Lemmer was a specialist on "Das Narrenschiff" and published an edition altering the woodcut on the title page.

The ship of fools sails under the flag of the GDR. The motto of the GDR was "Forward forever, backward never," although the most backward-looking figure is Erich Mielke, head of the Stasi. Next looking to him stands Justicia*. Both have their nakedness uncovered.

*Red Baron recognized the female figure as Red Hilda, the notorious Minister of Justice Hilde Benjamin. Professor Henkel disagreed.

In the front left, a People's Police officer is beating a citizen. And in the crowd is bald Johannes R. Becher, Minister of Culture, womanizer, poet, and author of the GDR national anthem: Auferstanden aus Ruinen (Risen from the Ruins). He is groping a female comrade's breasts.

The present world is full of fools at the helm of Government ships. I found a cartoon that takes an iconic painting as its model: King Trump crosses the Delaware River with his Administration, while J. D. Vance drowns Miss Liberty.

Here is a black and white photo of the original painting:

As a strong supporter of Europe's Revolutions of 1848, Emanuel Leutze painted at Düsseldorf in 1849 the Übergang Washingtons über den Delaware, hoping to encourage Europe's liberal reformers with the example of the American Revolution. This first version at the Kunsthalle Bremen was destroyed by fire on September 5, 1942, following a bombing raid.

Is the allegory well chosen? I learned that Washington's crossing was the moment when, by duping the British troops, the American Revolution sailed from near-death to survival. Well, the Trump boat is a Narrenschiff.

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Lüften

According to the New York Times, this German word went viral on the Internet. Red Baron blogged about lüften previously, so there is no need to repeat the information here.

What is interesting is the adopted American word for lüften: 'house burping'.

The Environmental Protection Agency (Hasn't POTUS cancelled it?) sees an argument for "burping" American homes that I hadn't heard yet.

"EPA recommends opening windows to reduce the concentration of volatile organic compounds in the home, which are released by a vast array of household items, including furniture, mattresses, cosmetics, and cleaning products. These compounds can cause adverse reactions like headaches, itchy eyes, and breathing problems."

In summer, Red Baron sleeps with the bedroom window tilted; in winter, it is too cold. So in the morning, I get the following warning:

Before midnight, I had already exhaled 1000 ppm of CO₂. So in the morning it was time to burp my bedroom.

This is what I get after a ten-minute lüften.

The word lüften is written with an umlaut where the ü is pronounced like "rue" in French. Will lüften lose its tüttels in America like über?

Uber means 'super' or 'extra'. So Übermensch became Superman/Woman. It is uber-cool to read Friedrich Nietzsche's book.

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Cartooning the Trump Era

As in previous years (2025, 2024, 2023), Red Baron hosted the first Stammtisch of the Freiburg-Madison-Gesellschaft in 2026, with an American theme.

In January's newsletter to our members, I featured a few American cartoons, which received a strong response. On February 4, the Fasnet (carnival) season is in full swing. Why not spend an evening watching a slideshow of political cartoons with my commentary?

Here is the result. For my American followers, it may not be as engaging since they already know the sometimes not-so-funny cartoons.

Let me start with a side-by-side photo showing crowd sizes at the 2009 and 2017 presidential inaugurations. This slide was shown in the weekly German Late Show Extra 3 (drei=dry) aired on television of the NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk) following Donald Trump's first swearing-in on January 20, 2017

Trump, whose election came as a surprise to Europeans, claimed that the crowds at the ceremony were record-breaking, approaching one to one-and-a-half million attendees. When his Senior Counselor was confronted with the actual figures, she said, "The President has alternative facts."

Like no other sentence, Kellyanne Conway's statement shaped Trump's first presidency. Already at the start, cartoonists had bad feelings about it.