“Bielefeld doesn’t exist” – at least all fans of the crime series Wilsberg are familiar with the Bielefeld conspiracy. However, anyone who has assumed that the conspiracy is the brainchild of the scriptwriters is sorely mistaken.
“Bielefeld doesn’t exist”: The story behind the Bielefeld conspiracy
The “Bielefeld conspiracy” is a satirical phenomenon that claims that the city of Bielefeld in Germany does not actually exist. This humorous theory was created in 1994 by computer scientist Achim Held on Usenet, the predecessor of the World Wide Web, with the statement “Bielefeld doesn’t exist!” Since then, the statement has become a running joke on the internet, but some people take it more seriously.
- According to Achim Held, the claim that Bielefeld does not exist was made by one of his acquaintances at a student party when he met someone from Bielefeld at the party. On a whim, this remark was spun further.
- The conspiracy theorists were inspired by the fact that at that time, all highway exits to Bielefeld were temporarily closed due to construction work. The core of the conspiracy theory was: “Bielefeld does not exist.”
- In May 1994, Held first made the Bielefeld conspiracy public on Usenet, and the conspiracy theory surrounding the otherwise rather inconspicuous Bielefeld spread far and wide. The computer scientist originally only wanted to reduce conspiracy theories to absurdity. What he could not have known, however, was that he would set off an avalanche that continues to this day.
- In 2010, Held starred in the film “The Bielefeld Conspiracy,” and just one year later, the film “Bielefeld – Die Stylishly” premiered.
- All fans of the crime series “Wilsberg” will also be familiar with the Bielefeld conspiracy, as it is regularly discussed there. Entire episodes have even been filmed around the Bielefeld conspiracy.
- Of course, the Bielefeld City Theater also took up the theme with its own play “Verschwörer – Wie wirklich ist die Wirklichkeit?” (Conspirators – How real is reality?). And it’s hard to believe, but even the 800th anniversary of the city of Bielefeld had the motto: “Das gibt’s doch gar nicht” (That’s not possible).
- The media attention even extended far beyond Germany’s borders: international media outlets such as the BBC, the New York Post, and The Guardian reported on Bielefeld’s non-existence and the marketing campaign – proof of the phenomenon’s global popularity and impact.
The “Bielefeld million” and the court ruling of 2023
Finally, in 2019, Bielefeld’s city marketing department took up the conspiracy again and offered a reward of one million euros to anyone who could prove that Bielefeld did not exist. The whole thing was marketed as the “Bielefeld Million” and was intended to put an end to the tiresome conspiracy theory.
- In fact, a few people hoping to win the prize submitted their apparent evidence, but no one collected the million-euro reward.
- One participant, who claimed in August 2019 to have provided proof by means of a so-called axiom, subsequently filed a lawsuit in 2023 before the Bielefeld Regional Court, as reported by zeit.de, among others.
- In September 2023, the court ruled that the competition was an obvious joke and that the lawsuit was unfounded. In particular, the court emphasized that empirical proof of the non-existence of a city was impossible. Furthermore, the axiomatic approach did not comply with the conditions of participation.
- The court also emphasized that it was an obvious fact that Bielefeld existed as a city and that no further proof was required.
- As a sign that the action was intended to be humorous, the court cited excerpts from the conditions of participation, which listed “members of the Illuminati” and the inventor of the conspiracy, Achim Held, among those excluded.
- In the end, the plaintiff not only had to accept the court’s dismissal, but also had to bear the considerable legal costs.
