In fact, all the people of Saxony-Anhalt have to be steadfast to make themselves noticed. “We get up earlier” is the latest slogan coined by the state government under its Christian-Democrat premier, Wolfgang Böhmer. It originates from a survey which showed that, on average, the people of Saxony-Anhalt are early birds compared to folk in other German Länder. The slogan’s aim is to improve the state’s domestic and international image, boost self-confidence and attract tourists and investors.

The claim also refers to the fact that people in Saxony-Anhalt have often been ahead of their time and changed the country and the world with their discoveries and ideas – personalities like Martin Luther or Walter Gropius, whose Bauhaus exerted a major influence on classical modern art and architecture, or the people who made the Nebra Sky Disc.

Some might sneer and say: “People who get up earlier also get tired earlier.” But this motivating slogan is getting at something else: it’s saying that the people of Saxony-Anhalt are particularly smart. While the Saxons consider themselves “helle” (bright), people from Saxony-Anhalt are certainly not in the dark – no matter how early they got out of bed. And anyone who has done an honest day’s work has a right to put his feet up.

Where should this idea have more validity than here in the heartland of Protestant virtues? It applies everywhere from Eisleben in the Mansfeld region, where Luther was born and died, to Wittenberg, where he instigated the Reformation – you keep coming across Martin Luther all over Saxony-Anhalt.