Speak German! You Immigrants

Most Western democracies are characterized by antagonism between the right and the left, for example, Conservatives and Labor in the UK. In France, the two camps are bitterly opposed, while in Germany, they live through a grand coalition. Whereas the US has a two-party system, other countries usually have a broader spectrum of right- and left-wing parties. German history has shown that if extreme parties become too strong, a nation becomes ungovernable (the Weimar Republic).

Germany's party spectrum is quite colored, as I explained in a previous blog. It started with the Green Party's success (11%), which took a number of votes from the Social Democrats (SPD). The left-wing party Die Linke (at 9%) meant another drain, such that the historically grand SPD now stagnates at about 24% of the votes, while the other major party, Chancellor Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), is going strong with 41%, having absorbed a good part of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP presently at 2%).

Recently, a new party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD at 6%), was formed. By poaching votes from the CDU's right wing, the AfD made it into several state parliaments. This populist party wants, among other things, to leave the euro. They advocate a national instead of a European foreign policy, ignore climate change, and demand compulsory German lessons for immigrants. So far, nobody has chosen brown as the AfD's color code; charts show it in light blue instead.

The CDU, particularly its Bavarian wing, the Christian Social Union (CSU), doesn't like having the ground pulled out from under its feet. By moving its platform to the right, the CSU hopes to stop the drain of votes to the AfD, avoiding the depletion the SPD suffered from Die Linke.

CSU party leaders, old and new:
Edmund Stoiber and Horst Seehofer with their wives (©dpa)

With so many people fleeing their war-stricken countries and looking for a safe harbor in Germany, their integration into our society has become a big issue. Recently the CSU forwarded the following idea: Wer dauerhaft hier leben will, soll dazu angehalten werden, im öffentlichen Raum und in der Familie Deutsch zu sprechen (Those who want to stay in Germany permanently shall be urged to speak German in public places and in their families). 

That sounds in Bavarian dialect like: zuagroaste Hansln, die wo fia immer in Deitschland bleim wolla, dahoam gfälligst Deitsch ren. 

Strangely, the CSU means a saubers Deitsch and not the Bavarian dialect. There are exceptions to the demand, as a political stand-up comedian stated: Selbstgespräche sowie unter der Dusche gesungene Lieder bleiben auch weiterhin in einer anderen Sprache als Deutsch erlaubt (Talking to oneself as well as singing songs in the shower are still allowed in a language other than German).

The CSU's demand started a shitstorm. Even the secretary general of their sister party, the CDU, wrote on Twitter: "Ich finde ja, es geht die Politik nichts an, ob ich zu Hause lateinisch, klingonisch oder hessisch red'" (I think it is not the business of policy whether I talk Latin, Klingon, or Hessian dialect at home).

Other parties used stronger wording: Nicht auszudenken, hätten die Amerikaner einem Thomas Mann verboten, daheim deutsch zu reden (That the Americans had put a ban on Thomas Mann to speak German at home is unthinkable). A Green Party member used a hefty German expression defying translation: Was ich zu Hause spreche, geht die CSU einen feuchten Kehricht an (It is none of the CSU's business what I speak at home). He continued, referring to Germany's past: Welcher Blockwart soll denn das kontrollieren? (Where is the "block leader" to check this?)

Crazy.

P.S.: Today (December 9, 2014), the CSU modified its demand by changing the phrasing: "shall be urged to speak German in public places, and in their families" to "shall be motivated to speak German in public places and in their families."

**