I moved from Bavaria to Saxony about two years ago. I always thought the whole “The West” “The East” thing was a joke and no one actually talked and thought like that.

Then I realized that it was just that there is “The East”, “The West”, and “Bavaria”. Bavarians don’t identify with “The West”. Nothing “The East” says about “The West” applies well to Bavaria. It’s just a very shielded microcosm. Bavarians don’t identify as Germans. They identify as Bavarians primarily. They are doing their own thing.