# The Bielefeld Conspiracy The Bielefeld Conspiracy is a satirical German internet joke claiming the city of Bielefeld does not exist and is an illusion maintained by a shadowy group called SIE (THEM). Started by a computer science student on Usenet in May 1994, it grew into one of Germany's most enduring online in-jokes and eventually forced the city itself to issue an official denial. ## Origin The joke was posted on May 16th, 1994 by Achim Held, a computer science student at the University of Kiel, in a message to the de.talk.bizarre newsgroup on Usenet[3]. Held wrote that he and a few friends had worked out that Bielefeld did not exist and speculated that a secret society, possibly tied into the German government, was maintaining the illusion. The original post framed it in the tone of earnest paranoid writing, which is what gave the gag its traction with readers used to that register. In a 2004 interview, Held said the idea came out of a conversation at a student party in 1993 with someone who read a lot of New Age magazines, where the mix of credulity and jargon suggested the premise to him[3]. He has repeatedly said he never expected the joke to outlive the newsgroup. - **Platform:** Usenet (de.talk.bizarre) / German web (viral spread) - **Creator:** Achim Held - **Date:** 1994 ## Overview The joke works by inverting a standard conspiracy pitch: instead of claiming something hidden is real, it insists something obviously real is fake. Participants argue that Bielefeld, a city of roughly 340,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia, is actually a geographic void whose existence is faked by a group known only as SIE (German for THEM)[1]. The three canonical questions used to test an unbeliever are: Do you know anyone from Bielefeld? Have you ever been to Bielefeld? Do you know anyone who has been to Bielefeld? Any yes answer is treated as proof the respondent is in on it[3]. The humor is deadpan and self-aware, which is why it stuck with German internet users for decades. Anyone who tries to disprove it, including residents, politicians and the city's own press office, gets folded into the bit as another agent of SIE[3]. That recursive quality made it a running gag long after the original Usenet post dropped off the web, and it is often cited as a classic example of German internet joke culture[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is The Bielefeld Conspiracy? It is a satirical German internet joke claiming the city of Bielefeld does not exist and that a secret group called SIE (THEM) maintains the illusion[3]. ### Where did The Bielefeld Conspiracy come from? Computer science student Achim Held posted the original claim to the de.talk.bizarre Usenet newsgroup on May 16th, 1994[3]. ### What does The Bielefeld Conspiracy mean? It is used to mock the structure of conspiracy theories by applying their logic to an obviously real city, so any evidence against the theory is treated as proof of the cover-up[1]. ### How do you use The Bielefeld Conspiracy? Participants typically ask three test questions, do you know anyone from Bielefeld, have you been there, do you know anyone who has, and treat any yes as evidence the person is part of SIE[3]. ### Is The Bielefeld Conspiracy still popular? It is a classic reference in German internet culture, with coverage from Goethe-Institut in 2012[4] and DW in 2014[6] keeping it known to international audiences. ## References 1. [https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Bielefeld_conspiracy]() 2. [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/de.talk.bizarre/0mkmuJPW_2w/PIxNjg2BKyoJ]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-bielefeld-conspiracy]() 4. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqY5Gf4pdNU]() 5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R_rV37Lwrs]() 6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqY63hWeXWI]() 7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfeGpB3z2lg]() 8. [http://sixtus.net/article/175_0_2_0_C/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/the-bielefeld-conspiracy Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library