this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2026
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The German public broadcaster has been fined while filming a show in Greenland after a satirist sought to raise a US flag in public. The incident unfolded amid heightened sensitivity over statements from the US president.

A true facepalm idea...

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[–] Trebuchet@europe.pub 51 points 1 day ago (3 children)

GERMANS! STOP TRYING TO BE FUNNY, I IMPLORE YOU!

[–] alleycat@feddit.org 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ze joke is war. Why don't you laugh?

[–] Boppel@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Well, people didn't laugh much the first two times... but as they say, comedy comes in threes!

[–] Boppel@feddit.org 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (6 children)

we have funny comedians i swear 😭 it's just, that our bad comedians are soooo much worse than in other countries, that they overshadow any good humor.

edit: i just realised, that we DO have bad humor. otherwise we wouldn't have so many bad comedians. however we actually have good comedians. it's just that they are totally outnumbered and good humor seems to be a subgenre.

[–] Akasazh@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

we have funny comedians i swear 😭

Best German joke one heard in a while.

-X- a western neighbor

[–] 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 day ago

we have funny comedians i swear

Hagen Rether with a doubtful face

[–] Trebuchet@europe.pub 2 points 1 day ago

I know you do, that was perhaps a bit facetious (and lazy) of me. For instance, i find Henning Wehn hilarious, and as well as touring, he gets a decent amount of radio and TV work in my country.

[–] Ibuthyr@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

Education in Germany is utter garbage. As a result we have a shitload of basic people. These people think that the louder a comedian is, the funnier they are. And that's why unfunny shitlords like Mario Barth fill stadiums and actually funny people like Moritz Neumeier still do small gigs.

[–] ati@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago

Henning Vane is a succesful comedic export to the UK. Funny guy.

[–] PoopingCough@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

we have funny comedians i swear

Flula Borg is evidence enough for me

[–] RalfWausE@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

German humor is no laughing matter, this is for sure!

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 12 points 1 day ago

The joke was aimed at Usa.

They could perform it at home on a stage with some artificial background, instead of annoy the peaceful Greenlanders.

[–] thesdev@feddit.org 23 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The context here is that Denmark has a flag law that disallows raising any flags other than that of the Nordics and Germany.

[–] 5715@feddit.org 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Wait, the German flag is allowed?

[–] thesdev@feddit.org 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, I suppose it's because they have a sizeable German population.

[–] androidul@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

TLDR

New law will not apply to flags of Finland, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and regional or international organizations such as UN and EU

[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I believe that the Ukrainian flag is also allowed

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yes, it is.

It's such a studid story.

Originally we had a patchwork of laws dating all the way back to 1833, when all kinds of flagging was made illegal. Only the royalty was allowed to use the flag. This was changed many times since then, but the basis was always the complete ban on flags.

These laws were largely disregarded since the wars of those times were long since over. Instead we had guidelines for proper etiquette. People followed the guidelines and everything was fine.

Until 2018. Somebody flew the Star Spangled Banner in such an annoying way that their neighbors questioned if it was legal. The court found it illegal, however this was then tried at the highest court, who came to the conclusion that the latest laws from 1915 couldn't be used since the law had generally been disregarded for so long.

This triggered the right wing parties, who were afraid that the final legal decision would result in many more foreign flags. Especially since people at the same time were starting to fly Ukrainian flags as support. Imagine if the immigrants from other places also started using their own flags. Such horror. So the right wing demanded a new law.

And they got it. The new law from the beginning of 2025 now only allows flags from Denmark, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany and... Ukraine. All other flags of foreign territores are illegal.

The EU, rainbow and pirate flags are also allowed since they do not represent a foreign country.

The other guidelines such as timing and procedures are still just guidelines. It's perfectly legal to burn the flag in protest, have it wave after sundown, to let it touch the ground or wipe your ass in it, even if it is against the guidelines.

Also, if you do want to fly a foreign flag, it is possible to get permission. It only requires accept from the local police. As far as I know, nobody has ever been fined for illegal flagging.

Omg Extra 3 xD

I thought Oliver Welke and his team or Jan BΓΆhmermann would have done something like that

[–] BussyGyatt@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago

its just a prank bro

[–] thesdev@feddit.org 7 points 1 day ago

Hasn't Extra 3 fully turned to AI yet? Maxi Schafroth bits were always unbearable to watch but you could skip those, but when they started using AI for every single graphic they did in the whole show I called it quits.

[–] magnetosphere@fedia.io 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

β€œAt no point during filming was it intended that the satire was aimed at Greenlanders," the broadcaster stated.

Then everyone involved in the show is a complete imbecile.

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

As a German:

yea

[–] RaoulDook@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Sounds like it would be funny if Borat did it though

[–] 5715@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

What a great way to waste both taxpayer (sorry, "fee-payer") money and diplomatic relations in one go.