The Germans prefer to laugh at the Dutch rather than the Poles
Germans like to make fun of their neighbors, but they are more likely to laugh at the Dutch than the Poles – assesses the German artist Achim Hagemann in an interview, founder of a music and cabaret group “Popolskis”. Team, gaining more and more popularity in Germany, creates a group of German musicians, who played the fictional funny Popolski family from Zabrze, who considers himself the inventors of POP music and the authorship of the greatest hits of the last century. Hagemann, who comes from the Ruhr region, alias Paweł Popolski reveals, that by creating a team, He was not going to mock the Poles at all. Contrary: he wanted to help break the negative stereotypes about Poles prevailing in Germany. A few days after an evening in Cologne, when I drank a whole sea of vodka with my Polish friends, I came up with an idea, to write a story about a Polish grandfather from Zabrze, who, as an unknown genius of the century, invented POP music. My friend at the time was Polish. She just came from Zabrze – said Hagemann. – The Germans still label Poles as car thieves. This is the most common stereotype about this nation.
I recognized, that it would be fun to create a story that reverses this stereotype and shows Poles as these, which have been robbed – he adds. This is how the story of Grandpa Popolski was created, which 22 brand 1908 R. invented POP music. That day, at a parish party in Pyskowice, he drank 22 glasses of vodka for the health of the Virgin Mary, and after playing, he wrote a song, considered by the Popolski family to be the mother of all hits, titled: “Eh good, All right, drla”.
During his life, my grandfather wrote 128 thousand hits, which dishonest performers have spread all over the world as their songs. Grandfather Popolski's descendants live in a block of flats in Zabrze, where they record video clips, dressed in a bit cheesy costumes and unfashionable hairdos. On the cover of the last album “Live in Zabrze” There is a miniature Polish flag stuck in a pickled cucumber. The Popolscy also drink vodka without moderation. Not everyone likes this image.
Critical comments appeared a few weeks ago in the Polish press. – We were a bit surprised by these negative reactions. We work with several Poles, who supported our project from the very beginning, they help write texts and take part in our television show. We hope, that in time, friends of the Popolski family will also come to Poland – assessed Hagemann. Added, that the team shows Poles as creative, people enjoying their lives, who, thanks to improvisation and resourcefulness, can do it, for which others need a tremendous amount of technical resources.
In one of the sketches they tell e.g.. “the true story of the first human landing on the moon”: Grandpa Popolski built a space rocket himself and was on the Moon half an hour earlier than the Americans. – The audience then laughs at the self-righteous Americans, and not from Poles, who win the unequal fight – explained the artist. However, he admitted, that the team also uses stereotypes.
– It's a comedy project, not a documentary. The comedy lives on exaggeration – added. – However, we take criticism from Poland seriously. In the following programs, we will significantly reduce the consumption of vodka. We definitely overdid it – he promissed. At the end of last year, the Popolscy hosted a series of entertainment programs on regional TV stations.
Their show on WDR TV was nominated for the TV. Adolf Grimm, and the concert calendar is filled for the next two years. The Popolski family has released two albums: “All right” i “Live in Zabrze”. – We would like to perform at a concert in Poland. For now, we are trying to improve our knowledge of the Polish language – added Hagemann.
