Cologne is known not only as one of the oldest cities in Germany, but especially for its Carnival. And since Carnival is just around the corner, I would like to share my experience from visiting Cologne for Carnival last year.
First, A little History of the Carnival Tradition in Cologne
Reports of Carnival in Cologne are going back to the time when Cologne was a Roman Colony with the celebration of “Saturnalien”. Initially there were Celtic-germanic celebrations of scaring away winter by having a parade with gruesome costumes.
When Christianity took over in the Middle Ages the celebration was used to have a good time before the fasting would begin. This is also where Carnival got his name: “Carne vale” can be translated into “Farewell meat”.
So this is when the actual fun started. People would still dress up, but rather than following a certain rites, they´d just have a massive feast on the street.
During the French occupation in the 18th century it was forbidden for a while so people moved the celebrations from the street to the pubs. So people would still celebrate, but away from the public eye in the privacy of Bars and similar establishments.
When the Prussians took over the reign of Cologne they allowed the festivities to be picked up again, yet under more formalised conditions, which is when the carnival committees were put into place. This is something very typical for the area around Cologne, where groups of people get together over the whole year to prepare for so-called Carnival sessions, a very organised way of “fun”.
Carnival today
It´s all about the costumes
As mentioned above, in the beginning Carneval had a special pupose: It was a time people would dress up in gruesome costumes to scare away the ghosts of winter. Nowadays, though, the costumes do not follow a specific purpose, but everyone can dress up as they like. The important point is that YOU HAVE TO DRESS UP.
I had the greatest fun, not only dressing up myself, but seeing all the creativity in all the costumes people wore. My friends and I decided to do a group costume of 101 Dalmations on the first day and to all dress up as old folks on the second day.
Carneval parades
Already in the old days, there used to be parades in the streets, to scare away the ghosts of winters in the whole village. Nowadays, there are parades again, but they are very different to what they used to be. The different Carneval Societies participate with different themes, waggons and costumes at the parade.
More often then not, the waggons become satirical, mostly related to current political issues. I will bet you that there will be more than one waggon picking up the more and more pressing issue of climate change and the circus around Trumps affairs these days.
Carnival nightlife
From the time of the French occupation, when it was forbidden to celebrate in the streets, an incredible pup culture for the time of carnival evolved. The Bars, Restaurants and Pubs of Cologne are bursting as soon as the parades are over. In the evenings there is almost no Bar left, where you do not have to stand in line to get in, so a lot of people wait in front of their favourite Bar already before it opens, to make sure to get in.
What else to know
As with any other big events a few things are very important:
- look after your valuables
- use your common sense to stay save in the masses
- there is a lot of single use plastic around during these days since everything has to move fast – only take advantage of this whenever really necessary or you cannot avoid it
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