Bavarian Secession

By Siobhán Dowling

Many Germans would love to get rid of Bavaria. Now, a small separatist party from the southern state is giving voters the chance.

For most foreigners, Germany is little more than Oktoberfest, the Alps, beer, lederhosen and the Bayern Munich football club. The stereotypes, though, apply to just one corner of Germany -- the state of Bavaria, which happens to be Germany's biggest and richest.

Much of the rest of the country, though, regards this wealthy southern colossus with a mixture of bemusement, derision and loathing. It's like a German version of Texas.

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