Monday 16 February 2015

K is for Karneval - Helau and Alaaf !


Karneval, the Rhenish name for the Fools' Season, is centuries old - Mardi Gras is an offshoot, but the two share nothing else but a common European ancestry. The Ancient Greeks and Romans celebrated Mardi Gras in the form of spring festivals as early as the 6th century B.C. In medieval times the "Feast of Fools" was celebrated as the last opportunity for merrymaking and excessive indulgence in food and drink before the Solemn Lenten Season. In some areas of Europe Karneval became a theatrical demonstration, an effective way of mocking monarchy, governments and other rulers without being punished.

Karneval is a Catholic tradition and in Germany is found almost exclusively in Catholic regions such as Bavaria and the Rhineland. However, there are Karneval celebrations in some Protestant areas, notably in Berlin and Braunschweig. (Braunschweig’s Karneval procession was cancelled this year at the last minute because of fears over terrorist attacks. I saw grown men weep on the TV news.)

Cologne Karneval is huge. As many as half a million people line the streets some years, dancing and singing and shouting ‘Koelle Alaaf' and swaying (schunkeln) the cold away. The Rose Monday parade which was first held in 1823 is more than 6 km long, with elaborate floats mocking politicians and politics, foreign and home grown, celebrities, curiosities and the carriages bearing 'Karneval Royalty’. There are endless parades of groups on foot, some as small as a dozen, others fifty or more. Dozens of bands provide noisy music, as if the noise from the crowds and the carriages and floats weren’t enough to deafen you. Everybody wears some kind of costume (it keeps you warm). 300 tons of candy are flung into the crowds from the floats, as well as flowers, rag dolls, other small presents and whole bars and boxes of chocolates. Each Karneval society has its own band of ‘soldiers’ with uniforms dating back to Napoleonic times, when the Rhineland was occupied by Napoleon’s forces; when the Prussians sent Napoleon packing, the populace in turn mocked them and their occupation of the Rhineland by dressing in Prussian uniforms,  also represented today.

Karneval, called the fifth season in Germany, the Season of Fools, starts on 11.11 at 11.11 and ends at midnight on Shrove Tuesday. It goes into a sort of temporary hibernation during Advent, Christmas and the New Year celebrations, but comes back in earnest in February, with the last week before lent being an almost non-stop party for members of the ancient and venerable Karneval societies and everyone else who wants to celebrate. Since Karneval originated as a mocking of Royalty, of course there must be a Royal Couple, the Prinzenpaar, who are crowned at the beginning of the season.With them comes the “Hofstaat, the Royal Court."  This consists of the "Hofmarshall" (Prince's Grand Marshall), the "Adjutant" (Princess' Attendant), the "Hofdame” (Lady of the court), and the "Mundschenkin" (Toastmistress and keeper of the wine.) Then there are the very important Princes’ Guardsmen in their tricorns and elegant uniforms.  ‘Funkenmariechen’, in their red and white uniforms are the female equivalent to the town soldiers, who were disbanded by Napoleon. All of these honours don’t come cheap and are highly regarded. The Funkenmariechen, who are an acrobatic corps de ballet, train for months before they perform at Karneval shows, called Sitzungen.

Karneval is very traditional in aspect and procedure. A whole ‘industry' exists for just this season. There is Karneval music, food, cabaret, and Buettenreden, (humourous and satirical rhyming speeches), grand balls and not so grand hops and other festivities all tailor made. During Karneval behaving madly and overindulging is a virtue.

Drunk or sober, in the grip of the mother of all hangovers or happy and fighting fit, on Ash Wednesday it’s all over. Those who feel they have sinned (which is allowed during Karneval) go to confession, are absolved and receive a thumb print in the form of a cross on their forehead and promise to behave well until the next Fool’s Season.


24 comments:

  1. This is TOTALLY fascinating. I had no idea about this Karneval, what it was, what it meant, where it came from -- and now I feel like I know something special that only readers of your World will know. Thanks for writing this... just think -- after tomorrow it will be all over...

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  2. Great job with this, Friko. In the Lutheran Church here, we celebrate Ash Wed., but there is no carnival the day before. This past Sunday, the Sunday School children burned some wood for ashes that will be used on Wednesday to mark the forehead, then some will begin some form of "giving up" for Lent. Thanks for the history lesson!

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  3. I have learned a good amount from you about various holidays and religious events. This is fascinating. It was the time when the religious could be like normal people for a while it seems. Our Mardi Gras here in the USA is pretty bold and brash but also good natured in its disgusting stuff. I am not part of the Catholic Church so never knew any of this and can shake my head in understanding.

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  4. Super post, thank you....I can almost hear the noise...

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  5. Thanks for this great info



    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    <3

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  6. A most informative post. I had no idea that Karneval lasted such a long time in some parts of the world. During our years in Ecuador Carnival was celebrated with the throwing of water, water balloons, and flour. It made a terrible mess. I never did discover the history behind the tradition. Of course, there were loud drunken parties as well, and contrition on Ash Wednesday.

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  7. ha. i wish we had carneval...at least a bit closer than mardi gras....
    its quite fascinating...when we lived in Florida we had something similar down in ybor city....cuban town...
    so many sights to see...

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  8. Interesting. You cover a wide history of carnivals and merry making.

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  9. I have heard of Carnival in Rio and, of course, our Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but the pre-Lenten celebrations in Europe are new to me. It seems that all around the world people want to celebrate fun and sin before they fast and repent. That works for me.

    As usual, Friko, this was a very good post.

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  10. I had no expectations and little knowledge of Cologne before visiting last year. I found it to be one of the most lively cities I have ever been to. It had such a terrific atmosphere, and to use the overused phrase, felt very cosmopolitan.

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  11. I remember watching Rosen Montag on TV, when I was a kid ... and how everyone in my family was in a good mood ... for once ...

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  12. I didn't know about the origin of the uniforms in Karneval, but of course it makes sense. In my area around Stuttgart, it's not such a big thing, but we do have some Fasnetszünfte and Umzüge in the smaller towns around Ludwigsburg. Their style is more like the Alemannische Fasnet, like the Rottweiler Narrensprung, with hand-carved masks and rather scary traditional costumes. As far as I know, it was more a thing of driving the demons of winter out than mocking one's superiors.
    I've never been a Faschings-person, but until I was about 12, I loved dressing up as a princess, gypsy-girl or Indian squaw, and one year I was Gestiefelter Kater.

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  13. We in the north of Holland aren't given to running around in can-can dresses or skeleton onsies in February ... it's too cold ... but in the south they're having a wonderful time this week !

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  14. I am gobsmacked. You've taken a chunk out of my impression of Germany, which I have always believed was stern and serious and exceedingly "by the rules."
    What a long, long season of crazy fun!
    Hallelujah.

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  15. Hallo Friko,
    das freut mich ja, dass Du so über das Rheinland berichtest. Ich gehe davon aus, dass es in England nichts ähnliches wie Karneval gibt. Teilweise war ich überrascht, wie sehr sich in anderen Ländern der Karneval verbreitet hat. So zum Beispiel in der Normandie in Frankreich (Granville) oder an der belgischen Nordseeküste in Blankenberge. Ich gehe aber davon aus, dass dem Kölner Karneval niemand das Wasser reichen kann.

    Gruß Dieter

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  16. As our world becomes more and more homogenized and regional accents disappear, it's heartening to learn about a long-standing tradition that is so specific to place and still continuing to this day.
    Fascinating post - Thanks!

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  17. I'm familiar with Mardi Gras, at least the New Orleans version of it as we went at least four times as kids growing up staying with friends of my parents, the man of which was an artist that had a studio in the French quarter so we had a front row seat for the festivities (back when they allowed parades in the Quarter) and most important of all, a bathroom.

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  18. Oh wow! This was so interesting! Love learning new things. I think I would stay safely and soberly at home like I do for New Year's Eve here--LOL! ;)

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  19. Dat is nu de tijd ervoor maar je hebt er een mooie foto van kunnen maken.

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  20. Having just returned from the Courir de Mardi Gras in rural Louisiana, I'm fascinated by the similarities between what you describe here, and what I experienced. I'd almost be tempted to say the Courir has more in common with this Karneval than it does with the goings-on in New Orleans. For example, there are the Capitaines, whose job it is to coordinate the activities, and keep the revelers in line, There are prescribed ways of going about the day's events, and the primary song sung at the farmhouses is rooted in European begging songs.

    As I said to someone, and probably will say again, it seems to me the difference between the big city celebrations and the rural Courir is the difference between spectacle and community. Besides, what's better than a huge party where you go out with friends and literally run down the chicken that's going into the pot for your supper that night?

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    Replies
    1. Oh. I forgot to mention. Given a choice between thrown beads and thrown chocolate -- well, I just don't know that's a choice I could make. Beads last, but you can't eat them!

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  21. I had a boss once who tried to tell me Carnival as practiced in Brazil was unique to the Spanish. Sheesh. They speak Portuguese in Brazil. But you don't argue (much) with a boss.

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  22. Love to think of this as the origin of/precursor to Mardi Gras!

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  23. Totally fascinating. I had no idea Karneval was such an elaborate and prolonged celebration. It makes pancakes on Shrove Tuesday seem very tame. I'd heard of Rosenmontag of course, but not that Karneval started in November!

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