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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Cowboys and Indians camp out across Germany |
| 2008-05-04 |
| Wannabe Native Americans and cowboys in Germany are having a ball this weekend, with two of Europe’s biggest meetings of Wild West enthusiasts taking place at opposite ends of the country. More than 1,500 hobby Native Americans, cowboys, trappers and settlers, have turned the town of Hundsdorf near Koblenz into Dog City. The Indian Council, which started last week and lasts until May 12, brings hobby wild westerners from across the continent together to recreate cowboy and Indian life. The Indians live in tipi tents, while the ‘townspeople’ have built a Western-style clapboard street, with a saloon complete with honky-tonk piano and bad whiskey. Further down the street is the sheriff’s office complete with a jailhouse. The German Western Association, (DWB), which organizes the meeting, has been doing so since 1951, when 120 enthusiasts met in Nuremberg and founded the group. Since then it has been an annual event, taking professors, engineers, computer programmers and all manner of other Germans out of their everyday lives and into an imaginary Wild West. “The authenticity is important to us – that the tents of the Indians, as well as the trappers’ camp and the western town - are as close to the lifestyle of the west at that time as possible,” said DWB chairman, Larry Eichel. The theme was reproduced across the country in Radebeul near Dresden, with the Karl May weekend, dedicated to the German Western novelist. Many Native Americans were guests in Saxony, helping to organize bow and arrow shooting competitions. Again, a camp and a small western town have been built, and children were offered the chance to pan for gold in a river. |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #6 This goes back to Karl May's books from the 19th century. Ever since, Westerns have always been popular in Germany. They don't understand them, but they like them. I guess that they like stereotyping us. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2008-05-04 20:51 |
| #5 HISTORY CHANNEL > WILD BILL HICKOCK > what made WILD BILL so formidable was, despite facing opponents wid more advanced gun tech that his, BILL ALWAYS STAYED CALM AND STEADY IN ANY GUNFIGHT = SHOOTOUT HENCE COULD AIM HIS SIMPLER-BUT-POWERFUL PISTOLS MORE ACCURATELY THAN HIS UNSTEADY OPPONENTS. WHEN BULLETS FLEW, BILL PROVED TO OFTEN BE "THE BETTER MAN" IN SERIOUS GUNFIGHTS. HE KNEW THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF HIS WEAPONS, AND KNEW WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW TO USE IT TO WIN. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-05-04 20:11 |
| #4 Oh, yes, it was hyped to an extroidenary degree, Anony5089. The Kansas rail heads were a little rowdy during those months when the herds were arriving, but gunplay among the cattle drovers was pretty minimal. I wrote "Most murderous gunplay in cow-towns usually involved members of the professional gambling fraternity or local law enforcement professionals. On occasion, this meant the same body of personnel. These were small towns, any other time than the cattle-trailing season. People doubled up when it came to jobs." as part of this post about the Old West. After doing a ton of background reading of contemporary 19th century memoirs - I have discovered that the post Civil-War frontier wasn't much like it was put about in B-movies and television. It was much more interesting and much more complicated. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2008-05-04 15:25 |
| #3 Third: No real recreation of the west without a firefight with real bullets. I dunno. This was the 19th century, so this was a rather rough period, and by definition, pionneers and frontiermen had to be rough guys, but the myth of the Wild wild west seems to be a bit hyped - cowboys towns were certainly a bit on the rowdy side, but still a far cry from today's third world slums (or even an US big innercity). More gun ownership than the modern USA, less murders, less gun crime. See The American West: A Heritage of Peace An American Experiment in Anarcho- Capitalism: The - Not So Wild, Wild West (pdf) |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-05-04 14:33 |
| #2 First it should be Bourbon not whiskey. Second: Why it has to be bad? Third: No real recreation of the west without a firefight with real bullets. |
| Posted by: JFM 2008-05-04 13:54 |
| #1 Guten Morgen Pilgrim. |
| Posted by: George Smiley 2008-05-04 10:56 |