East Frisian jokes
Encyclopedia
East Frisian jokes belong to the group of joke
s about certain nationalities, in this case the East Frisians
of northern Germany.
The basic structure of these jokes takes the form of a simple question and answer; the question often asking something about the nature of the East Frisian and the humorous reply usually being at the expense of the supposedly stupid and/or primitive East Frisian. Often the East Frisian are portrayed as farmers, rural folk or coastal dwellers. Many punch line
s describe the foolishness of East Frisians by using figure of speech
or a word used in a different sense (a pun
or play on words).
Sometimes the reverse situation also occurs in which the East Frisians are the wiser; and are contrasted usually with a group of people from the southern German-speaking world.
In addition, comedians such as Otto Waalkes
and Karl Dall
also tell jokes with or about East Frisians, usually in a completely open format.
In East Frisia itself these jokes are usually accepted. The positive effect of a greater awareness of the relatively small region of East Frisia resulting from this humour is recognized and welcomed. A modern legend
even suggests that these jokes were invented by the East Frisians.
Punch lines promoting East Frisians:
Other forms of East Frisian joke:
in Ammerland
, a neighbouring region of East Frisia, was and is attended by East Frisian pupils. As with many other nearby regions, there is frequent taunting and teasing between the peoples of East Frisia and the Ammerland. The school said that culminated in 1968 and 1969 in one of the students, Borwin Bandelow, publishing a series in the school newspaper, Der Trompeter, called "From research and teaching." This series was about the so-called "Homo ostfrisiensis", the supposedly clumsy and stupid people of East Frisia. Wiard Raveling, himself an East Frisian and teacher at this school, published the "History of East Frisian Jokes" in book form in 1993.
What followed from the series in the student newspaper, was a joke wave, which spread, first in the region, but was soon publicized on radio, newspapers and magazines in Germany. Media such as Stern
or Spiegel
reported on the curious neighbourhood disputes between East Frisia
ns and Ammerlanders - and spread it by passing on the jokes. These were soon overtaken by the adaptations of the Polish joke
s that had recently arisen in the 1960s in the U.S. with numerous variations, as well of jokes about other people groups.
In 1971 the East Frisian comedian
and singer, Hannes Flesner, brought out several LPs
with the then new East Frisian jokes ("East Frisia, as it laughs and sings"). Later, the two comedians
from East Frisia, Otto Waalkes
and Karl Dall
, amongst others, built their careers on East Frisian jokes or the stereotype
of the East Frisians and their country. Later joke waves, such as that in the 1980s about Federal Chancellor, Helmut Kohl
, or those about Opel Manta drivers, or shortly thereafter about blondes in the 1990s partly took over the structure and content of the East Frisian jokes.
Joke
A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...
s about certain nationalities, in this case the East Frisians
East Frisians
East Frisians are, in the wider sense, the inhabitants of East Frisia in the northwest of the German state of Lower Saxony. In the narrower sense the East Frisians are the eastern branch of the Frisians, a Germanic people and belong, together with the Danes, Sorbs, Sinti and Romanies to the...
of northern Germany.
The basic structure of these jokes takes the form of a simple question and answer; the question often asking something about the nature of the East Frisian and the humorous reply usually being at the expense of the supposedly stupid and/or primitive East Frisian. Often the East Frisian are portrayed as farmers, rural folk or coastal dwellers. Many punch line
Punch line
A punch line is the final part of a joke, comedy sketch, or profound statement, usually the word, sentence or exchange of sentences which is intended to be funny or to provoke laughter or thought from listeners...
s describe the foolishness of East Frisians by using figure of speech
Figure of speech
A figure of speech is the use of a word or words diverging from its usual meaning. It can also be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it, as in idiom, metaphor, simile,...
or a word used in a different sense (a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
or play on words).
Sometimes the reverse situation also occurs in which the East Frisians are the wiser; and are contrasted usually with a group of people from the southern German-speaking world.
In addition, comedians such as Otto Waalkes
Otto Waalkes
Otto Gerhard Waalkes is a Frisian comedian and actor. He became famous in the 1970s and 1980s in Germany with his shows, books and movies. His perhaps most famous trademark are the 'Ottifanten' , elephant-like comic characters of his own design...
and Karl Dall
Karl Dall
Karl Bernhard Dall is a German comedian, singer and television presenter. His distinctive 'hanging' eye is caused by an inborn Ptosis.- Family :...
also tell jokes with or about East Frisians, usually in a completely open format.
In East Frisia itself these jokes are usually accepted. The positive effect of a greater awareness of the relatively small region of East Frisia resulting from this humour is recognized and welcomed. A modern legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
even suggests that these jokes were invented by the East Frisians.
Examples of typical East Frisian jokes
Jokes in typical question-answer format:- Why do East Frisians have flat heads? – Because when they have a drink of water, the loo seat always falls on their head!
- Why do East Frisians take a stone and a box of matches to bed? They turn the light off using the stone and light a match to see if they've actually hit the light!
- How many East Frisians does it take to milk a cow? Twenty-four. Four to hold the teats and twenty to lift the cow up and down!
- Why do East Frisians ride in a tank to go and feed the sheep? Because they don't know that the Second World War has ended!
Punch lines promoting East Frisians:
- What do East Frisians do when the tide goes out? – They sell plots of land to Austrians!
Other forms of East Frisian joke:
- Why does the tide ebb and flow? – Because when the sea saw the East Frisians, it got such a shock that it ran away. Now it returns twice a day to see if they're still there!
- From the stage act by Otto WaalkesOtto WaalkesOtto Gerhard Waalkes is a Frisian comedian and actor. He became famous in the 1970s and 1980s in Germany with his shows, books and movies. His perhaps most famous trademark are the 'Ottifanten' , elephant-like comic characters of his own design...
: "The East Frisians and the Bavarians are playing football. Suddenly a train goes past nearby and whistles. The East Frisians think the game has ended and go home! (pause) Half an hour later the Bavarians score the first goal!"
History of East Frisian jokes
The East Frisian form of joke arose in the late 1960s and triggered one of the first large, nationwide waves of jokes in Germany. Unlike other jokes about specific people groups, the history of East Frisian jokes is fairly well known. The grammar school in WesterstedeWesterstede
Westerstede is the capital of the Ammerland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 25 km northwest of Oldenburg.-External links:*...
in Ammerland
Ammerland
Ammerland is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the city of Oldenburg and the districts of Oldenburg, Cloppenburg, Leer, Friesland and Wesermarsch.- History :...
, a neighbouring region of East Frisia, was and is attended by East Frisian pupils. As with many other nearby regions, there is frequent taunting and teasing between the peoples of East Frisia and the Ammerland. The school said that culminated in 1968 and 1969 in one of the students, Borwin Bandelow, publishing a series in the school newspaper, Der Trompeter, called "From research and teaching." This series was about the so-called "Homo ostfrisiensis", the supposedly clumsy and stupid people of East Frisia. Wiard Raveling, himself an East Frisian and teacher at this school, published the "History of East Frisian Jokes" in book form in 1993.
What followed from the series in the student newspaper, was a joke wave, which spread, first in the region, but was soon publicized on radio, newspapers and magazines in Germany. Media such as Stern
Stern (magazine)
Stern is a weekly news magazine published in Germany. It was founded in 1948 by Henri Nannen, and is currently published by Gruner + Jahr, a subsidiary of Bertelsmann. In the first quarter of 2006, its print run was 1.019 million copies and it reached 7.84 million readers according to...
or Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
reported on the curious neighbourhood disputes between East Frisia
East Frisia
East Frisia or Eastern Friesland is a coastal region in the northwest of the German federal state of Lower Saxony....
ns and Ammerlanders - and spread it by passing on the jokes. These were soon overtaken by the adaptations of the Polish joke
Polish joke
Polish jokes are jokes told to make fun of or disparage Polish people. Some of the earliest Polish jokes, also called Polack jokes – in reference to an ethnic slur – might have been told originally before World War II in disputed border-regions such as Silesia, suggesting that Polish jokes did not...
s that had recently arisen in the 1960s in the U.S. with numerous variations, as well of jokes about other people groups.
In 1971 the East Frisian comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and singer, Hannes Flesner, brought out several LPs
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
with the then new East Frisian jokes ("East Frisia, as it laughs and sings"). Later, the two comedians
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
from East Frisia, Otto Waalkes
Otto Waalkes
Otto Gerhard Waalkes is a Frisian comedian and actor. He became famous in the 1970s and 1980s in Germany with his shows, books and movies. His perhaps most famous trademark are the 'Ottifanten' , elephant-like comic characters of his own design...
and Karl Dall
Karl Dall
Karl Bernhard Dall is a German comedian, singer and television presenter. His distinctive 'hanging' eye is caused by an inborn Ptosis.- Family :...
, amongst others, built their careers on East Frisian jokes or the stereotype
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
of the East Frisians and their country. Later joke waves, such as that in the 1980s about Federal Chancellor, Helmut Kohl
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union from 1973 to 1998...
, or those about Opel Manta drivers, or shortly thereafter about blondes in the 1990s partly took over the structure and content of the East Frisian jokes.
External links
- Collection of East Frisian jokes at fun.wikicities.com
- Deutschlandradio culture about the East Frisian joke