Weißwurstäquator
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The Weißwuascht-Äquator a humorous term describing the (supposedly) very different culture and dialect of the southern part of Germany, especially Bavaria, and the rest of the country. The term refers to the fact that Weißwurst is a favorite dish in Bavaria, but seldom served in the other regions.
An example of the cultural difference is the dominant role of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria, a conservative party which is popular in Bavaria, but does not exist as such in the rest of Germany.
To the south of the Weißwurstäquator, rural regions cling to their dialects of the Upper German variant. In contrast, the areas to the north of the Weißwurstäquator are identified with Central German dialect in middle Germany and Low German language in the North. In some formally Central German dialect areas, the local dialect has virtually vanished in favor of Standard German.
Note that as Austrian German is closely related to the Bavarian dialect, Austria is frequently considered to be "south of the Weißwurstäquator".
The Weißwurstäquator is thus most frequently used to roughly designate the isogloss, or boundary of Upper German, the Speyer line. In common practice it is mostly associated with the river Danube, although sometimes it is drawn more on the River Main.
See also
- Röstigraben, the line dividing German and French speaking areas of Switzerland
