1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
SyriaMiddle East crisisGerman election 2025
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV
Politics

Romania: No more bringing home the bacon

VideoassistentenFebruary 2, 2012

In the village of Gârbova in the Transylvania region of Romania, the old customs of the local ethnic Germans, the "Transylvanian Saxons," guarantee harmony in the community. But now there is trouble with the European Union.

https://p.dw.com/p/S91f
All the families bring their bacon to the tower of the medieval fortified church, where it is strictly guarded. Every weekend, the townspeople receive a slab of bacon. The idea is that no one will be out of bacon before spring and thus have to go borrowing or begging from neighbors. The old tradition helps preserve tranquillity in the village. But now Brussels is making trouble. The way the pigs are slaughtered here violates EU regulations, and the church is not considered a suitable place to store foodstuffs.