Bolle reiste jüngst zu Pfingsten (Bolle made a trip on whitsun) is a folk song in the Berlin dialect. The song mocks the stereotype of Berliners as unrestrictedly revelrous.
According to music professor Lukas Richter [de] the song is of the Schwank type common in German-speaking countries (compare to Oh du lieber Augustin). The song makes references to Pankow which was a suburb of Berlin in the middle of the 19th century. At that time it was a common conduct for people from Berlin to board a Kremser van – the Berlin variant of a charabanc – to drive out of town to one of the inns, in the case of this song one of the many around the Schönholzer Heide park [de; nl] that were a popular destination for day-trippers.
The name Bolle (meaning "onion" in Berlin dialect) refers to an indeterminate person, and there is no evidence that it refers to the Berlin merchant Carl Bolle [de] or hairdresser Fritze Bollmann [de].
As common for a folk song there are a number of recordings available which show variants in wording as well as the number of verses. The song is also changed deliberately when used to make a political statement by using the refrain "but whatever happened, Bolle had his fun" (Aber dennoch hat sich Bolle janz köstlich amüsiert).
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References
- Lukas Richter [de] (Hrsg.): Mutter, der Mann mit dem Koks ist da. Berliner Gassenhauer – mit Noten. Leipzig: Dt. Verl. für Musik 1977
- Text at ingeb.org