• torknorggren@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    “Stadtliche luft macht man frei” is an old German saying. City air makes you free. Life in a small town can be stifling. That close-knit family wants you to be just like them. God forbid you want to do or see anything new. The moving-to-a-big-city trope is as old as cinema, and has strong roots in reality.

    • jaanus20@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      In the middle-ages in at least in what is now Estonia, if you ecaped to the city and lived there for a year and a day you would be set free from your serfdom. “Linna õhk teeb vabaks” same frase was used for that.

      • the_third@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        The background back then was, that citizens of towns weren’t owned by anyone in the feudal system unlike people that lived outside the walls.

        • Aqarius@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          There were free peasants outside cities. The specific reason is a serf could run away to a city, and if he managed to stay long enough, he stopped being a serf and became a citizen.

    • Godric@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I agree with the sentiment, but Germans have a horrible track record on what makes you free.