Slanted – Special Issue Bavaria

OK … Bavaria stands for: Men in Lederhosen and women in Dirndls (traditional dresses), beer, pork Schweinshaxen (knuckles), Knödel (dumplings), Brezeln and Weißwürste, Oktoberfest, FC Bayern Munich, BMW (75.000 employees), Audi, Allianz, Adidas, Siemens, Alps, Allgäu, Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Dachau, Altötting, Chiemsee, Starnberger See, and all the other lakes, Neuschwanstein Castle (logo template Disney), Kraus-Maffei Wegmann, Airbus and MTU (most German arms exports come from Bavaria), Deutsches Museum, Pinakotheken, Neue Sammlung, Münchner Kammerspiele, Bayrische Oper, Wagner-Festspiele, Karl Valentin, Gerhard Polt, Lothar Matthäus (“I hope we have a little bit lucky”) … Stop. In the case of Bavaria, the list of clichés can be extended indefinitely.

Until the 1950s, many still considered Bavaria to be an agricultural state—an image that even then stood for only one side of the Free State.  In 1972, the Olympic Games in Munich presented the world with a civilian Federal Republic that had shed the dull gray of the post-war years and was openly looking to the future. The Weltstadt mit Herz (World City with Heart) was proclaimed. Though “The games must go on.”—Avery Brundage, then president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), declared at the funeral service for the eleven members of the Israeli team killed the day before …

With the help of bayern design, we tracked down designers, artists, photographers, illustrators, and crafters—all people who love their region (almost a third of the Bavarian population prefers to spend their vacations in their own state) and are passionate about what they do. Clearly, Bavaria is rich. Rich in creativity, diversity, and intelligence. Our research uncovered so many findings that this issue could easily have been many times more extensive. It’s a typically Bavarian dilemma we have to face: Immer etwas zu viel des Guten! (There’s always more good stuff than you can enjoy). And we think that’s really good! Because life is really good here. Servus!