What did Susanne Jaspers write that is wrong? Or is that not the point at all?
In the new Marco Polo travel guide, the publisher and author portrays the city of Esch in the form of a small style criticism. Jaspers knows the city, she lived in Esch for a long time. Nevertheless, the editors have not left the author much space. In short, it was announced. The result is best described as a failed balancing act.
Even those who don’t gloss over everything about Esch could leave a bitter aftertaste. At least that’s how I felt. For example, why the problem of empty shops, a sad fate that almost every city of this size shares with Esch in large parts of Europe, is even mentioned, remains a mystery to me. On the other hand, I can for the most part understand Jasper’s aesthetic classifications. But here too the question of necessity arises. The Eschers, for example, willingly accept Brillplatz as a small green area to hang out. It’s always better than a parking lot. And everything is better than the André Heller plans put down in 2007 by numerous Eschers in a citizens’ initiative (including Susanne Jaspers).
The reactions to the Marco Polo text, which was not that bad after all, also deserve classification. Especially those of the mayor and the aldermen. But more on that later.
Fried eggs
A lot of trouble was sparked by the “rough proletarian nest” with which Jaspers nailed the city to something in the opening credits, which I believe it is not – which, above all, was obviously misunderstood. Most of them are likely to have bothered more about the “rough” than the “Proletennest”. “Rough” does not mean “ruppeg”.
While the Duden names the synonyms harsh, brusque, cheeky, short, the Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire says repulsive, disgusting. False friends call such translation difficulties by linguists. I can’t imagine that Jaspers wanted to call Esch “repulsive”, but I also don’t find that Eschers are particularly harsh or abrupt. Rather the opposite seems to be the case to me, and it is usually more difficult to find out from a chance conversation on the street or in a café (back then) than to become involved in one.
Mayor Georges Mischo and his aldermen seem to have bothered above all about the “rough”. Superhero-like, they hurried to the alleged renovation of the city and posed in new T-shirts with the inscription “RuppEsch” on the strange things on Brillplatz, whose shape reminded the Marco Polo author of dog poo and which get so hot in summer that fried eggs on it. With 30 degrees and sunshine, Alderman Pim Knaff would not have sat on it, not even for a photo session.
Esch’s city tour does not miss out on such a high-profile photo opportunity. Especially since the mayor had already pre-tested the topic himself on social media and had already received a lot of approval on first posts. Later the new photo with the “RuppEsch” logo on the chest was uploaded as a new Facebook profile photo – and 800 likes were collected, an impressive number in Luxembourg.
Cleverly done
How Mischo is driving up the online outrage himself in order to increase his own popularity online is, it is difficult to say otherwise, very clever. After all, you just couldn’t have said anything about the matter. It would have fizzled out quickly. But the self-promotion festivals have to be celebrated as they come. On the other hand, nothing was heard from the opposition on the whole matter. The Marco Polo entry remains unflattering for Esch, but the protagonists from CSV, DP and the city’s Greens have obviously increased their popularity.
In his first, above-mentioned reaction to the new tour guide text, the CSV mayor immediately stated on Facebook and Instagram that “no matter what is said or written about my city, I am proud to be Esch and I am proud of my city️ ! ”An almost abrupt, harsh reaction. And, perhaps for the next time, a mayor could also have written “our city”.
Nevertheless, the anger remains understandable, even if it was subsequently cannibalized by local patriotism. Esch bashing is now countered by local patriotism that tends to be exaggerated, which tends to iron out criticism rather than take it seriously. Which is understandable because of the frequent, repetitive criticism that mostly ignores the realities of the city. But whether politicians are well advised to fire such tendencies remains to be seen. After all, we elect a local council every few years and not a fan club.
For this reason, too, a more sovereign reaction on the part of the politically responsible would not have harmed the matter because of such a minor matter. But maybe that wasn’t the point at all.
Armand Back has been with the Tageblatt since 2006. The correction first went to the local editorial office, only to be thrown out into the big wide world with international politics. Escher still hangs around there today and keeps an eye on Europe’s new rights in particular. Other focal points are Brexit, migration, the Middle East and everything else that is keeping the world and thus the author in suspense. Recently and probably in the near future, the corona crisis has been added. A particular preference is Esch and Vienna, the Balkans and the Caucasus, the west of Ireland and the south of Italy. It is preferable to relax with the many loved ones, otherwise with weird music. Likes creepy entertainment and considers himself the best pasta cook.
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