[chanklaus]

@Freiwillige: In a world in which large scale differences (like clothing, behaviour, etc) more and more gets the same on entire continents the people need symbols of a small scale difference and local identities, whether it is the football team you support, the knowledge of a local dialect or language, etc. People tend to think - or rather feel - in smaller scales, a concept like "Europe" is logically understood, but emotionally problematic.

BTW, don't you have something like that in the US as well? If I see the flag of the confederation in the southern states of the US - isn't that as well an anachronism?