Carnival in Cologne, Germany
Ask
Germans what they associate with the city of Cologne, Cologne, Germany (the ‘v’ is pronounced the burning like ‘u’), and I bet you hear, “Carnival and Dom (cathedral and Carnival) “or vice versa.
When the dome is still there, right in the center, which I can not for tourists to miss the carnival on the other side (I’m using the German words from now, because that there are different terms in different parts of Germany) are not significantly throughout the year, even if it starts on November 11 to 11.11 clock area until February or March, date varies according to the date of Easter, Ash Wednesday, the day of Carnival is past is the 40th day before Easter. Now what is this carnival? The city of Cologne has launched a site with explanations in English: “It is almost as old as the history of the city itself, but the carnival celebrated today only dates arranged for 178 yearsFestivals Greeks and Romans celebrated cheerful spring. in honor of Dionysos and Saturn with wine, women and song (Cologne was a Roman colony), the Germans celebrated the winter solstice as a homage to the gods and expel the evil winter demons and later the Christians, the pagan rites. The time of fasting (Lent) before Easter was in the “Carnival” (overnight fast) or “carnival” said -. carne vale = Farewell to meat
In the Middle Ages, the celebration, the masquerade, often taking radical forms, to the chagrin of the City Council and the Church. prohibitions and regulations have done little to help, was the celebration of the wild and spirited.
The boisterous street carnival was extended in the 18th century, the so-called “redoubts”, elegant masked balls and masked in Venice style, which were originally the preserve of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie easy.In 1823, Cologne celebrated the first Monday parade, were also involved in the “Rote Funken” (red sparks) from the ancient city of militia, just as a carnival company s ‘… a society was established, then followed the others.’
think Aha, you could, the meaning of the word, but there is another theory that the ancient Roman festival where cars looked like they had ships based “Carrus navalis” later became the Latin Carnival / Mardi Gras.
What do members of organizations carnival for about three months? Well, in November, they decide what they do and show in the show, then they have to prepare, practice and perfect it is. The early flowering on Thursday with fat before Ash Wednesday and crazy women go wild, they buildings in the city / town / village (this also happens in small towns) storming, the mayor the keys of the city / town / village, cut the links of all men crazy enough to be able to. In the parade in Cologne Rose Monday again, it starts 11 minutes before 11 o’clock, it covers a distance of 6.5 km long, because it takes four hours. It consists of cars satirical recent political implications in local, national and global huge papier-mâché figures. A lot of bands in March in the parade in uniform with all the great dancers and throw their legs in the air, dressed in these very stressful. Then there are cars to watch the sweets are thrown into the crowd, 140 tons last year! If Carnival does not exist, would have to invent Haribo. (Haribo factories are located in Bonn, only half an hour’s drive from Cologne) But not only the profits Haribo, the cost of the election of millions of euros last year, the carnival season € 350 washed 000,000 in the coffers of the city of Cologne, throughout the Republic of Germany is around € 4 billion to 5 billion richer after Ash Wednesday, we can not do without the carnival, what with so many people unemployed ! The online audience are dressed and made up, anything goes. Last year it was freezing cold, only about 0 ° C, but it seemed very colorful spectacle of the sun and for dyed wool carnival fools no weather is too cold or too wet. Then there are festivals in all restaurants and pubs in Cologne, where tourists can participate. There is always observe more than one million people in the show, where those who do not sleep in other parts of the country and abroad? I am sure that all mobile homes and kennels in the villages around Cologne carnival full days during the important final. Some organizations shows, buy the card that people dress up and ballet seen in carnival costumes, listen (mostly outdated, sexist and homophobic, often funny and witty) jokes singing, drinking, and swing (swing left and left arm and right arm with the neighbors) Now let’s Cologne and regions in which the term “carnival” (as the carnival / Fassenacht used). (Net) “In the towns and villages in the Alpine regions of Austria, southern Germany, Black Forest, the area around Lake Constance and German speaking Switzerland and France, where the Germanic tribes had established the Swabian-Alemannic carnival is celebrated, is a case in which pagan hunt the old traditions of winter mixed with the pre-Lenten celebrations have. celebrants dressed as ghosts, demons and witches are heavy wooden masks, intricately carved and transmitted from generation to generation. close back “over and over again are representations of the ‘Wise Fool’ with a smooth, serene, pale face, scary witches with grotesque features and animal masks of all kinds, as well as masks of mythological characters that appear in the local tradition and history, each group contributes to the same suit, is the same and behaves the same. “ A few years ago I was in the town of Rottweil, the center of German-speaking Swabian carnival is celebrated, where the jump is called fools (fools jump). No cars by satirical political news, dressed only in a group after (around 50 if I remember correctly), with about 30 members each up and wearing masks, you do not know if a man or a woman is among them. They jump around on long stems make a great noise with rattles and bells, and then they grab some viewers online and swirl it around for a while, or wrap it with a dried pig’s bladder is attached to a stick, but strangely, the whole thing. It is used
“Fasching’is the concept in Munich, I can not tell you much, only the traditional to women who sell fruit and vegetables will be dressed in ‘food and crazy.
I hope you have a variety of information and a colorful description, but also some critical remarks, you might want to know now what I really think Carnaval / Carnival / Mardi Gras. Well, I hate them with all my heart, I always thought I had a very small minority, with fans and fans of such a quantity of Hullabaloo and Chaos and the media are full of all events but the other day, I learned that this is not the case, are, according to a survey 54% of all Germans Gras Carnaval / Carnival / Tuesday, only 27% for her! When I was in elementary school in eastern Saxony, no area of this kind of thing was all, I dressed as well, or rather was dressed by my family, take part in party Carnival school, I did not feel well, I was very embarrassed to walk alone in a costume through the streets of a city with no frills, no doubt, would be when I grew up in the Rhine region, I would feel differently. The explanation that we received from law enforcement, the frustrations and inhibitions throughout the year and suffering, it is healthy to blow up the system once a year is not me convinced (and after Ash Wednesday people as narrow-minded and place as before), I am happy or grumpy, curmudgeonly happy or when I can feel it organized and serenity that makes me uncomfortable. It is interesting from a sociological point of view is the fact that more and more organizations founded to celebrate the traditional customs, such as Berlin (the eastern part of Germany has been the Carnaval / Carnival / Mardi Gras was free, it also has to do with Catholicism, are areas where it is celebrated all non-Catholics, mainly in northern and eastern Germany were) there was a parade last year for the fifth time only! This follows from the fact that Europe is now united, the feeling that the world has become a global village, and although the people of this development, they have the desire to search for their roots, and of course that they find a little green dress as witches and benefits of raids in the town halls. / P>
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