THE Rittbitten is as characteristic of Erlstätt, a village in southern Bavaria, as the onion dome of its church and the Alpine peaks on its horizon. Each year villagers gather at the Gasthaus Fliegl restaurant, where, accompanied by a brass band in le-derhosen, the religious Saint George Society invites locals to join an Easter Monday horseback ride. It is respect for the old ways, says Andreas Fliegl, that has made this place so successful: "We have the lowest unemployment in Germany." He is thinking of entering his restaurant in a competition, created by Marcus Söder, the new Bavarian premier, to find the state's best "Heimat inn". Heimat means home, but also tradition, belonging and place. In Bavaria, it is the front line of a big political experiment.
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