Carnival…what is it in Germany?

Paris Marathon Training: Week 11 of 18
Today’s target run: 1 hour 12 minutes
Today’s completed run: 1 hour 12 minutes

Carnival in Germany…is akin to…well….Mardi Gras…for those of us in the US who are familiar with this big-bang event in New Orleans. It is considered “a fifth” season in Germany, because it is a time of total hype and revelry (or downright craziness) all on its own. Apparently, Carnival divides Germans into two camps: Those who absolutely love it and can’t wait to make fools out of themselves, and those who absolutely hate it.

Interestingly enough, this difference is can be seen along geographic lines. For those regions that are predominantly Catholic in religious affiliation, such as Saxony, Mosel River Valley, and North Rhine Westphalia, and for many cities such as Cologne, Düsseldorf, Munich, and Constance, etc. this is a big-time celebration. For Protestant areas of Germany, it is not really celebrated, since Martin Luther “forbade” Carnival.

Technically, January 6th is the start of this fifth season, although preparations have been underway since the previous November. After all, there are Carnival Princes and Princesses to elect and Carnival parades to stage. The pace of Carnival activities, parties, events, and parades increase in frequency right up to Shrove Monday, in this case, February 27th of this year. But more to come on specific Carnival events in future blog posts.

There are regional differences to Carnival…one of the most obvious is seen in the various names that are given to the event: Carnival, Fasenacht, Fosenocht, Fasteleer, Fastelovvend, Fastelaband, and Fastnacht are names given to the night before the beginning of Lent.

So, check back…Germany Carnival 101 is just beginning….