Carnival In Cologne: Germany's Festive Season In February

The Cologne Carnival, or Kölner Karneval, is a world-famous carnival that takes place every year in Cologne, Germany. It is one of the biggest street carnivals in Europe, attracting millions of visitors to the city. The carnival season officially begins on the 11th minute of the 11th day of the 11th month (November), but the main celebrations take place in February, in the week before Lent. This week is known as the crazy days, and includes countless parties and parades throughout the city. The highlight of the carnival is Rose Monday, when a large parade featuring floats, costumes, and music makes its way through the city. The carnival comes to an end on Ash Wednesday, when the straw figure Nubbel is burned and people receive a cross of ashes on their foreheads before a traditional fish dinner.

The carnival's history and origins

The origins of the Cologne Carnival go back to the Spring festivals celebrated by the Greeks and Romans in honour of Dionysos (god of wine) and Saturn. As a Roman colony, Cologne celebrated the feast of Saturnalia with wine, dancing, and music. The festival included a lot of drinking and joking, and the authorities granted people the freedom to criticise authority without fear of repercussions.

Over time, Christian influences gradually mixed into the celebrations. When regions along the Rhine were Christianised, the heathen festival was integrated into the official church calendar and developed into what later became known as Carnival. The celebrations take place six weeks before Easter, just before the period of fasting or Lent begins. The original name, "Fastnacht" (night before the fast), reveals these early Christian origins.

During the Middle Ages, Carnival became a final chance for people to feast and run wild before the fasting and sacrifice period of Lent. The name "Carnival" comes from the Latin phrase "carne vale", which means "goodbye to meat".

In 1823, the establishment of a formal committee, the Festkomitee Kölner Karneval (Cologne Carnival Celebration Committee), turned Carnival into the organised chaos that it is today. The committee has been running the official carnival, with its parades, balls and stage shows, ever since.

Carnival was institutionalised in the early 19th century, when the Prussians governed the regions along the Rhine. During Carnival, people in the region dressed up in the uniforms of Prussian soldiers as a form of protest and satire of the Prussian rulers. This tradition has been passed down to the contemporary Carnival clubs, many of which have their own ""regiment", military banners, marching bands, and powdered wigs.

The role of women in the carnival

The Cologne Carnival, or Kölner Karneval, is a celebration that takes place before Lent, with the official season beginning on the 11th of November at 11:11. However, the main festivities occur during the "Crazy Days" or "Crazy Week" in the week before Lent.

Historically, the Carnival has been a male-dominated event, with men dressing up as women and taking on female roles. The "maiden" of the Dreigestirn triumvirate, or "Her Loveliness", has traditionally been played by a man. However, there have been exceptions, such as during the Nazi era, when women were ordered to play the role, and in 1938 and 1939, when Paula Zapf and Else Horion became the first women in the triumvirate's history to play the maiden.

The Carnival also has a day dedicated to women, called Women's Carnival Day or Weiberfastnacht, which falls on the Thursday before Rose Monday and marks the opening of the street Carnival. On this day, women dress up and gather at the Alter Markt, where they open the festivities at exactly 11:11 am. A tradition on this day involves women cutting off men's ties and giving them a kiss, symbolising the revocation of male power.

While the Carnival has been criticised for its gender dynamics, with male artists still dominating the music scene, alternative carnival associations are working to bring the event into the present and ensure it is not just a male-dominated celebration. More and more self-confident young female musicians are also entering the scene.

The 'Crazy Days'

The Crazy Days, also known as the Street Carnival, is a week-long street festival that takes place between Fat Thursday (Weiberfastnacht) and Ash Wednesday (Aschermittwoch). The festival includes countless parties in the streets, squares, and bars throughout the city, as well as the world-famous parade on Rose Monday (Rosenmontag).

The Crazy Days kick off with Women's Carnival Day, when women dress up in their finest costumes and gather at the Alter Markt to open the street carnival at exactly 11:11 a.m. The Carnival is officially opened by the three main Carnival figures: the Prince, the Peasant, and the Maiden, known as the Dreigestirn. The time of merrymaking in the streets is then declared open, and the party continues with a street celebration, a play, and several masked balls in the evening.

On Carnival Friday, there is a brief respite from the festivities as people nurse their hangovers and prepare for the weekend. However, the party continues in the pubs and bars, and in the early evening, the Sternmarsch (Star March) takes place, where partyers march together from Cologne's main squares to the Alter Markt with sparklers.

On Carnival Saturday, the big daytime event is the Funkenbiwak on the Neumarkt, organized by the Roten Funken, the oldest carnival group in the city. There are also various parades and processions taking place throughout the city, including the Geisterzug (ghost parade), which is usually held on this day.

The main event for Carnival Sunday is the Schull- und Veedelszöch, a mini version of the Rose Monday parade with dozens of school and smaller community groups participating. There are also more community processions and parties in the city centre, although the crowds are smaller than on other days.

The highlight of the Crazy Days is Rose Monday, which features the world-famous Rose Monday parade. This parade spans 6 to 8 kilometres and includes floats, foot groups, dance groups, and music bands. During the parade, participants throw candy, roses, and chocolate to the audience, with over 140 tonnes of sweets and 300,000 flowers distributed. After the parade, the celebration continues in the bars and pubs.

The final day of the Crazy Days is Violet Tuesday, which includes neighbourhood parades and the burning of the Nubbel, a straw figure that represents all the sins committed during the Carnival. The Nubbel is burned in several parts of the city during the evening torchlight processions, marking the end of the Carnival season.

The Rose Monday parade

The parade is led by the Dreigestirn or triumvirate, which consists of the Jungfrau (maiden), Prinz (prince), and Bauer (peasant). These three individuals pay a large sum of money for the privilege of leading the main parades throughout the week. The prince, known as "Seine Tollität" (His Madness), is the most important personage of the parade and his float is always the final one in the procession. The maiden is traditionally played by a man dressed as a female, and the peasant, known as "Seine Deftigkeit" (His Heftyness), symbolises the boldness of the old privileged imperial city of Cologne.

The Nubbelverbrennung (burning of the Nubbel)

The Nubbelverbrennung, or the burning of the Nubbel, is a ceremony that marks the end of the Cologne Carnival. The Nubbel is a straw puppet or doll that is hung from a lantern, window, or above the door of many pubs during the carnival season. It is said to represent the scapegoat for all the sins and wrongs committed during the carnival and is burned as punishment.

The burning of a figure at the end of Carnival has been a tradition in the Rhineland since the beginning of the 19th century. On Ash Wednesday, the Nubbel is carried through the streets in a funeral procession and then burned. This act symbolises the end of the carnival and is meant to drive away the excesses of the previous days and bring attention to the wrongdoings of the world. It is a cleansing ritual of sorts.

The exact sequence of this tradition varies from city to city and from pub to pub. On Weiberfastnacht, the start of the street carnival, the Nubbel is placed on the facade of the pubs near the door. In a short parade, the Nubbel is then carried by torch or candlelight to its grave on Shrove Tuesday at midnight. A carnivalist dressed as a cleric then recites a charge, usually in dialect and often in rhyme, accusing the Nubbel of various misdeeds. The crowd initially defends the Nubbel but eventually demands revenge, responding with "It was the Nubbel!" or "The Nubbel is to blame, let him burn!".

After the burning, the group returns to the pub and continues the carnival music until Ash Wednesday morning, when the carnival season officially ends.

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