A German man who is suing his town’s tourism office for not crowning him their “apple queen” is upset after a court yesterday ruled against granting him financial compensation.
In Germany, farm produce is often honoured with its own “queen”, usually an attractive young woman who is then tasked with appearing at events wearing traditional dresses while holding the produce in question.
Marko Steidel, 42, entered the race to become apple queen of Guben - a town in the east German state of Brandenburg - last year.
It was the first year since the competition’s founding in 1995 that men were allowed to enter.
When Steidel lost out to 21-year-old Antonia Lieske, he decided that the vote hadn’t been fair and sued Guben’s tourism office, demanding financial compensation to the tune of 25 000 euros (about R380 000).
WINNER: Antonia, 21
But the judge said Stiedel had based his claim on a “mere assumption” and said that his charge that the winner did not have a driver’s licence was not a valid argument because that is not a requirement in the contest.
“I will file an appeal, I am not putting up with this,” fumed Stiedel.
Guben’s mayor, Fred Mahro, said he found it “hard to bear that our court system has to waste its time with this nonsense”.