American reacts to Carnival in Germany
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- Опубликовано: 13 мар 2023
- Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to Go to Cologne Carnival they said: THIS is how our Australian reporter reacted
Original video: • Go to Cologne Carnival...
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For one thing, there is a huge difference between so called "Sitzungs-Karneval", which is indoors, usually has paid admission, music and dance performing groups and also often "Büttenreden", which are humerous and often political speeches where people make fun of the ruling, be they local or national.
On the other side you have the "Straßen-Karneval" or street carnival which is outdoors and where the different clubs often have theme-wagons that they have been creating of the last year, clubs usually either have their fancy uniforms, such as featured in the the video you watched, or other, but uniformely agreed upon, dress-up costumes. In Cologne it is also customary that sweets are thrown from the theme-wagons towards the watching crowds. A huge percentage of the crowd is also dressed up in costumes.
The carnival season, or Session as it is called in Cologne, starts on November 11th at 11:11 am end ends on Ash Wednesday. In that time, it is mostly "Sitzungs-Karneval" with Street Carneval starting the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, called "Alt Weiber", when the carnivalists "take over" the local town halls and the processions with the theme wagons usually starting the Saturday before Ash Wednesday and ending Carnival Tuesday. The most famous processions happen on Shrove Monday.
Carnival focal points are Mainz, Düsseldorf and of course Cologne. Also be aware that there is a special type of carnival in the southwest of Germany and parts of Switzerland, called "Allemanische Fastnacht".
Very precisely except that in Mainz it's not carnival but Fastnacht 😉
But you should definitely do a video on the street carnival. I think you might have even done one on street Fastnacht before 🤔.
*schwäbisch-allemanische Fasnacht ;D But I think every region calls it in a different way. In my region its just called "Fasching"
I grew up in the former East Germany. Karneval/Fasching/Fastnacht is pretty foreign to me. I once attended the Rosenmontagsumzug in Düsseldorf (dressed up of course, I was a Hobbit with an Elven coat - which was nice, because it kept of the light drizzle of rain way better than any jacket!), but it just felt weird, to be honest.
I do own a few pictures of myself as a kid dressed up for Fasching, but it's nothing really that carried over from Kindergarten. It just stopped after Kindergarten. There eventually was a Faschingsverein founded in our village, as they were in other villages/towns, but it never really became a thing, even though people tried. May have changed now, moved away 10-15 years ago.
@@hellkitty1442 I grew up in Düsseldorf, and Carnival is weird even to me.
The light drizzle of rain is a traditional addition on Rosenmontag, very common weather at this time of the year.
Basicaly it's in the most parts of Germany
It would never have occured to me to compare the Oktoberfest to a carnival XD Completely different things
I thought exactly the same. Karneval/Fasching and Oktoberfest are two things that a German would probably never compare. The only thing they have in common is the alcohol. 🤣
@@benjaminbeier4036 Not even the music is the same 🙃🥳😀
@@benjaminbeier4036 its simply uncompareabel because the one thing is like one huge festival and the other thing is in many towns.
@@joajojohalt Well, technically THE Oktoberfest is just one festival in Munich, but during the last years many copies of the Oktoberfest have appeared in many places all across Germany. So its not as strictly localized as some seem to believe. Nonetheless its not comparable in the slightest in my opinion.
I am still prefer the South allemanic fasent
About the "Hello" thing. He actually said "Helau" (pronounced the same way), which is the traditional karneval greeting in Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf and Cologne have been "Rivals" since time immemorial, so off course its a "sin worth the deepest pits off hell" to say Helau in Cologne. In cologne you say "Alaaf"
Sorry for being a grammar you-know-what about this. In German we put the stress in hallo at the end like "hallO" That's all 😅
Düsseldorf Helau!!! ❤️🎉😄👍🏻
@@grumpfzessin Do we? I'd say that most people I know rather say "hAllo" with a stress on the "a"...
@@jazico8246 i think he was talking about HelAu (*suffocates in Kölsch*)
Only Alaaf is okay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never ever say Helau!!!
The Oktoberfest is more of a festival from Bavaria, which has spread to tourists. Karneval or Fasching, on the other hand, is widespread in Germany and is celebrated very intensively in many areas.
Traditionally, there are clubs in villages and towns that compete in the annual competition for the best performance
Yes and every area has different clothing, etc.
Eh, rheinischer Karneval is its own thing, very distinct from Fasching, even if it comes from some of the same roots.
@@aenorist2431For outsiders, there would be little difference, even if everyone cultivates their own traditions
the Oktoberfest is more of a tourist attraction, and not really something a lot of native bavarians go to, most people prefer more rural Frühlings-/Volks-/Herbstfeste.
And (at least to me) it seems like the Karneval is more for the local people.
@@JustForFun2801 That is actually not true. Fasching is based in the tradition of "getting rid of the winter". It consists of lots of cruel looking witches and has no political component.
It’s also known as Fasching and it’s a catholic tradition so mostly in the south and west of Germany. It’s literally an obsession in Cologne, but lots of people are crazy about it.
And its also called the fifth season :D
Which i think IS really funny
Fasching or also Fastnacht (depending on the region) is actually not exactly the same. Where Carnival originates from making fun of the troops as described in the video, Fastnacht and Fasching is trying to expell bad ghosts and end Winter.
Hope I got that correct 😅
@@SmartVanture Yeah exactly Fastnacht is against the bad/evil winterghosts
It isn't really a religion thing, its a local tradition and Karneval, especially the Kölner Karneval are very big and long Parades, the video just showed the in between stuff
Also known as Fasnet in the south
With you are now slowly discovering the German tradition of Karneval/Fasching (which is nationwide in various levels of intensity) - the next step would be reacting to the famous Rose Monday carts (especially the Rose Monday Parade in Düsseldorf has some interesting carts) --- on another note, the Kölschglas also called Stange are 0.2 ltr. beer; the Mass glasses at the Oktoberfest are 1 ltr. of beer.
10:10 Festivals, customs, dialect and food in Germany are often regional, sometimes even local. Of course, there are also things that are known nationwide. This is because throughout its history, Germany has consisted of many states that were only later united
Oktoberfest:
On the occasion of the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese on October 12, 1810, numerous celebrations took place in Munich. The Oktoberfest developed from this *1, but only in Bavaria. Why should other German states celebrate the Bavarian Wedding? (*1 It has references to other festivals)
The craziest thing that they did not touch is that the main party time is from Weiberfastnacht (a Thursday) to Veilchendienstag (the Tuesday afterwards) of the ~5th week before easter
Basically between these days there are around 1 million people on the streets of Cologne and having the wildest party you could imagine
It is unbelievable -you should watch another video about it to really get the scale of things
There are also parades everywhere and thousand of these events we were shown in the video
The reason why the glasses are that small in Cologne is due to the regional beer variant, Kölsch, which goes flat rather fast, so has to be consumed quickly in comparison to other beer sorts.
If you go to a brewery house and order Kölsch they put a glass on your table and every time you empty it, you get a new glass on the table (and your tab) until you put the coaster below the glass on top. That signals you've had enough beer.
In some brewerey houses you also encounter a local variety of a waiter, the Köbes. Those act grumpy and rude in part of tradition. Back then in the earlier days, there was no dedicated waiter staff in a brewery house and the common worker lacked manners and etiquette. So, don't feel offended if you get a snide remark, it's all in good fun ;).
These tiny glasses are called "Kölschglas" and they are specific to the beer they drink in Cologne and other cities around. While they are small you usually get a bunch of these and drink one after another
Also mocked as "testing tubes" :D
Das ist eine Stange Bier.
"Altgläser" from the Rhein Ruhr region are as tiny, they are just wider and not as high.
While Alt tends to be more malty than Kölsch, there are brands from both types that basically taste the same, but that's an unpopular opinion. And especially Kölsch reminds me of watered down Weißbier, I guess it's an acquired taste.
To clear some misunderstandings:
Jeck,
It is not pronounced Jack but yeck.
Also note that Karneval (Carnival) is also called Fasnacht or Fasching in other Regions in Germany.
That is why when the man yelled ,,Hellau!" (not hello as you assumed) he was stopped. In many Regions you greet yourself with Hellau on Karneval, but in Cologne/Köln you say "Alaaf!".
Kölle is just a local dialect of Köln (Cologne)
Also: Karneval Season begins on November 11th 11:11 and finishes somewhere in Februrary most of the time (varies every year and has a lot to do with Religion). With the last 5 days being the typical "Karneval" were everyone is out partying
Ok I think we have to explain a few things:
First off: Carnival is NOT an Oktoberfest. The Oktoberfest is one single event held in Munich, though there are lots of other, mostly smaller but similar events. These can be summarized with the word „Volksfest“ or „Kirmes“ (translating to something like fair of fun fair).
Carnival is a completely different thing. Depending on the region there are different names for it: „Karneval„ in the area of cologne, „Fastnacht„ in most of mid Germany and Frankonia and „Fasching„ in the south + dozens of different names in some towns and villages.
Carnival isn’t one event, there are lots and lots of celebrations across the whole country and also far more than one per city, town, etc. As said in the video, the season starts at November 11th where the first events take place. Then there is a pause during christmas time with the first big indoor events taking place mid January. These „Sitzungen“ (~meetings) are what’s shown in the video. The audience usually gets to see a number of dance groups, singers and, probably most important, comedians who often poke fun on politicians or important events from the last year.
In most places, the big finale takes place around Febuary on rose monday (this year the 20th). Usually there are big parades going through cities with huge crowds watching.
I hope this helped to explain what german Carnival is
Kirmes/Kerb (Kerb is another word for Kirmes), is the church consecration (Kirchweih). The day of the church patron in the village or town. The most celebrating time for Kirmes/Kerb is autumn or early spring. Few villages in the summertime. Autumn is preferred, while after harvest time. Oktoberfeste an most Kirmes/Kerb in the same time and is not the same.
@@tobiasmuth2372 hast recht, volksfeste werden von der allgemeinheit aber ebenfalls oft als kirmes bezeichnet. deshalb hab ich´s mit reingeschrieben
Carnival tends to be big in the Catholic part of Germany - of course there are exceptions here as well - but in general you can split it up a bit. I once had to order something from a supplier during carnival time in Cologne - my experience was: forget it and wait until after Ash Wednesday (end of carnival time)!
The carnival in Cologne is also much older than what was said in the video. The first records are already from the High Middle Ages - more precisely, from around 1220 AD and already known to the founding fathers of the ancient Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Latan name of the later Cologne), the ancient Romans already knew a festival, this was called Saturnalia (originally after the end of celebrated the winter sowing, this festival was transformed in 217 BC, during the Second Punic War, and developed into a multi-day, carnival-like festival).
Carnival also means that at this festival the mirror is held up to the powerful, criticism of conditions and bad leadership can be expressed without the critic being allowed to be punished by the powerful - a very important and very old reason for carnival!
That's where what's reported in the video comes into focus - Cologne during the Prussian period, but it's so much older than what's reported in the video.
There's a quite different quite new video on the Cologne Carneval by "My my merry messy German life" - have a look once you got time.
Carneval happens in Cologne, Düsseldorf and that kind of region. This is in large part militarily influenced as they describe it here. BTW: the glasses are small but in the pubs you get served another the moment the one you had is empty. This is meant to always have fresh beer and not have it go stale.
Fastnacht (or Fasnet in southern dialects) hapens in the South of Germany. This is much less military and much more wild and rowdy with demon and witch masks.
"militarily influenced" in the sense of making fun about prussian soldiers
lots of countries in europe celebrate carnaval. all with different traditions. it's somewhat religiously associated, as it's celebrated before lent, it's basically the time to go all out, you party and have fun. it's also incredibly common to wear things that make fun of those in power(similar to the ancient roman practice of saturnalia). it's a bit of a mix of halloween and mardi gras, but with a bit of political satire in the mix
Maastricht in NL and the Limburg Region near by Aken (Aachen)😁
Yessss, finally! My home town 💝
Kölle Alaaf 🥳
Kölle Alaaf zurück ❤🎉
Endlich war es wieder soweit ❤
It's not just cologne it's half of Germany it's huge in many areas
The other half just hates it. There is no between.
Now don't me get started on "Dussel Village" please ...
Karneval depends on Easter 🐣
It’s (i think, can’t remember exactly) 40 days before Easter
And because Easter is a „variable“ holiday, like once this date, once that, Karneval also is on different dates.
But it always starts at 11/11/….
11:11 o'clock.
@@biggsdarklighter0473 ah ja hab die Uhrzeit vergessen AUTSCH 😣
Karneval is a special feeling ❤ growing up with it was amazing ❤❤❤
6:41 During the Karneval season there are many of those „Sitzungen“ where every town or every club has it‘s own with their own guards, their own dancer and their own „Büttenredner“. But in the das from „Weiberfasching“ until „Faschingsdienstag“ many of the events are in the streets, like the „Umzüge“ (parades) which exist also in many most catholic cities and of which are Cologne, Mainz and Düsseldorf are famous for. Then there is also the Alemannischen Fastnacht which as a whole other animal.
Watching a video about the street carneval will blow your mind and trigger every inch of social awkwardness :D
Carnival starts at 11:11 on the 11th of the 11th month, and end on Aschermittwoch, which is the 46th day before easter. The season (Called "session") is quite long. There are many Sitzungen throughout that time, and it culminates in the great street carnival processions on Weiberfastnacht and Rosenmontag, which literally draw in millions.
I myself have never been to a session carnival, have always followed them only on TV, I found so far the street carnival always more interesting, because it is unusual. In Germany there are in comparison to other countries, I find, hardly any parades, but the carnival or "Faschingszeit" is full of colorful street parades. These parades have lots of music, fun, political satire, great costumes, litter gifts, exciting floats, downtown wide party mile and so on. I think from my point of view, session carnival is more for older people and street carnival is more for younger people.
I only really celebrated in kindergarten and school 😅When I was younger we watched a small parade and I think I've been to a session once but it was also more for kids. Our village is really small so there weren't THAT many people to begin with. There was some alcohol though
To answer some of Ryan's questions - just in case he does drop in:
-Oktoberfest in an event in Munich only, lasting from late September to early October.
-Karneval/Fasching/Fassenacht/Fasnet/... does happen all over Germany (at least West Germany; the East used to be first Protestant, then Communist - not many Catholics around).
-the various names all hint at a time of feasting before the period of fasting from Ash Wednesday to Easter that's part of the Catholic religion/tradition.
-Karneval begins each year on the 11th of November (supposedly because before the Prussians the French/Napoleonic army of occupation was made fun of; 11 is "elf" in German, the initials of "egalité, liberté, fraternité", the French revolutionary motto).
-there are two main parts: Sitzungskarneval, where people sit inside, and Straßenkarneval (Straße = street), which culminates in the Rosenmontagszug = Rose Monday Procession - in Cologne/Köln typically with about a million spectators lining the route of the procession.
Hello from Germany! Yes, carnival is the fifth season of the year for people from the Cologne region! It's like a religion! It's the crazy days. You have to be very hard drinking because there's quite a bit of beer and schnapps to be drunk! It's something special. The worries of everyday life are forgotten and everyone celebrates with everyone and has fun! After the great days, some marriages and relationships break up! But what the heck you had fun!Greetings Nephilim 😏😉😂
Not only Cologne though
He didn't say "Hallo", he said "Helau", which is what you shout on Karneval, or rather "Fastnacht", as we call it, for example in Mainz, where I am from. There also are other variations of the shouts.
For people from outside Germany, something like the Weiberfastnacht is certainly interesting to strange in this context.
On the day, women symbolically take over the scepter and it is customary to cut men's ties as a sign of their power. In some cities, this is also practiced officially with the incumbent mayor
You sure do some more Videos, because there is a huge difference between Street Carneval and the Sitzungen.
The lady dancers are called Funkemariechen. In the Eastern part of Germany and especially in Berlin we don't celebrate Fasching too much. XD
For me Karneval is pretty much like Halloween but with a happier theme. Most small school children or kindergarden kids dress up on that day. Honestly though after 7th grade I pretty much forgot about it
Yes, we People from Cologne are (not all of course) crazy about "Fasteloovend" in Köln Love it!
Freue mich jedes Jahr aufs neue 😍
It's not at a certain date but over a period of about 3 months. However the last week of that period starting with "Altweiber" up to "Aschermittwoch" wich is called "Straßenkarneval" (Streetcarnival) that has its own vibe. You should watch a video about it. I would recommend an older one as the Trucks have been a lot more political satiric back in the days.
ruclips.net/video/WLJwS1JG53s/видео.html&ab_channel=DWNews this might be a good one
Nice Video Ryan! You also have to take a look at "Schwäbisch-alemannische Fastnacht" in the South of Germany. It's also Carnival, but waaay different than in Cologne. 🙂
If you want feel what Karneval in Kölle (Cologne) is, you must watch:
Cat Ballou - Et jitt kein Wood
( It has no word) -
live Kölnarena 2019.
The Kölnarena Event is the biggest Indoorparty of every Session next to the Street Karneval at the Neumarkt, etc.
It's a feeling!
You are the city we all do dig
You already made us love you as children
You have a lovely smile in your face
You are the woman who cries her eyes out.
Grey your hair and so colourful the dress
You have trouble at home, but red fingernails
With a dazzling make-up and the bottoms a bit broad
Fortunately all this suits you well.
As bold as brass, but the heart is good,
A little bit crazy, not worrying about anything,
Good-humored, but it almost gets on one's nerves,
All this we have inherited from you.
You are the city at the Rhine, the grey river,
You are in love with your stately cathedral,
You are a virgin and an old woman,
You are our mom and you stay beautiful forever
Black Föös - Du bess die Stadt
This lyrics tell you everything about cologne habitants and their feelings towards the city and karneval.
As someone from north germany I must say: This whole carnival - thing is totally alien to me.. 🤪
oktoberfest is only in munich,
karneval is in Köln and Düsseldorf and this area, in bavarain it is called fasching and it is different in each state
Kölsch Beer is served very quickly, you automatically get a new one immediately served until you say stop. This is because the taste of the beer is tied to the cool temperature of the beer which is only possible to keep cool while drinking if served in small sizes that don’t get warm because they don’t last so long. They make you at least as drunk as the big beers believe me 😂
Comparing attendance numbers at München Oktoberfest and Köln Karnival is very difficult. Oktoberfest last just 16-18 days each year and attracts about 6 million recorded visitors. Fasching in Köln sees about 1-1.5 million at the Rose Day parade, but the festival overall has a fluid timetable so total numbers are difficult to estimate as there is no official admission, as at Oktoberfest. If we limit Karnival to the week before Lent begins, the numbers are thought to average considerably fewer than Oktoberfest. Btw, for a weekend (2 or 3 day) carnival, records show that Europe's largest by attendance numbers is London's Notting Hill Carnival.
Kommt halt wirklich drauf an was und wie viel du geografisch dazuzählst.
But that's only Cologne and not the rest of the country which also celebrates. Or doesn't.
In Bayern ist es nicht Karneval, sondern Fasching
In Berlin and I think in northern Germany in general, typical carnival is not a significant thing.
In Berlin for example we celebrate our kind of carnival around the Pentecost weekend, at the Carnival of Cultures.
This is a huge street party with a mixture of all the carnival celebrations in the world with a lot of electro music in between. I think each region in Germany also has its own festivals, which are celebrated larger than in the rest of the country. :-)
Karneval is kind of like Halloween, but older and even scarier.
But also very funny when you do it in school or you get enough to drink 😅
0:30 with about 3.4M visitors distributed between several cities the Carnival in germany doesn't even come close to the Oktoberfest in terms of numbers which averages between 5-7 M visitors every year (with the exception of 2020/21 due to the lock down during the pandemic)
This year 600 K people participated the Rosenmontags Zug (Rose Monday Parade) in Mainz. The Street Fassenacht in Mainz is absolutely nuts and every year I am very happy when it's over.
Working during that time means countless working hours and after that you're need a vacation 😂
You can tell the age of a Carneval tradition by their costumes. The Carneval of Venice for instance has costumes which hail of the time of Renaissance (13th and 14th century). The Tyrolean Fasching (Matschger, Muller) spurs Baroque costumes (17th and 18th century), and the Carneval in Cologne comes with uniforms from the Napoleonic Wars.
And the carnival at Rio de Brasil? What do you think about the age of the costumes?🤭🥳
Oh, it goes back to times when the Romans were still around, but of course it has changed a lot over time. Thousands of years ago it was barbarians celebrating the end of winter and the coming of spring. Then Christianity came along and it became more about celebrating one last time before lent. In medeval times a jester was granted the freedom to say things which other people could not without facing severe consequences. They were fools after all. And that made some jesters excellent diplomats, because they could make proposals that nobody else could. In the worst case their proposal could be declined as a bad joke, or maybe accepted without anybody losing his face. When the Prussians 'liberated' us from Napoleon, there was no free speech as we know it today. If you wanted to criticize the 'liberators', you better did that under the protection of being a fool and Karneval was the right time to do that. Even today many colorful caricatures of Prussian uniforms, now a tradition, appear on the stages and the street parades and making some fun of the current politicians also is still part of the program. And thinking about how free speech is still under attack today, let's say by social media, I think the whole world should have more Karneval. And some drinking and fun while we are at it.
@@CDP1861 I would not confuse Carnival and Spring festivities (which are around Easter, thus six to seven weeks after Carnival). The closest to Carnival are the Roman Feriae Martis, the Roman New Year, which were celebrated on March 1.
@@Miristzuheiss The Carnival de Rio is closely coupled with the Samba, which came from African slaves kidnapped and brought to Brazil in the 19th century. Thus, the Carneval de Rio and its costumes draw from West African sources.
@@SiqueScarface i know that, studied History of Arts. I postet it only for funny reactions. But, no comment🤷🤭😉 have a good evening, relax, fine dinner. 🥰😘from Düsseldorf, Germany
Okay, living in North Germany: Carnival is not such a big thing here. It is a tradition in the western and the southern parts of Germany. Actually we celebrate to be the NOT CARNIVAL Part of the country- although there are some smaller events in certain cities. In autumn there are some "Oktoberfests" here was well, but honestly its just an occasion to dress up, drink lots and lots of beer and dance on the table.
Here we have the biggest sailing event IN THE WORLD , the KIELER WOCHE, which is also a big folk festival with concerts, kids events, balloon festival, food all around the city, while the sailors compete in Olympic and non olympic sailing classes. Even Kings are sailing the Kieler Woche.
I can remember, that in my childhood we used dress up and always celebrated one afternoon at school together with the teacher. In addition , every year on Rose Monday in our small town where I grew up, there was a big carnival party especially for children and young people in a large dance hall even with a live band .There was always a great atmosphere and it was a lot of fun. In the evening we had Then the grown - ups celebrated. But up here in northern Germany carnival parades rarely take place , they take more in Cologne, Mainz et.💞😍
Honestly, Karnval is a pretty deep topic to get into. I learn new things about the history of Karneval and its customs every year. There are a few places that are the really big Karneval areas. I grew up right between Cologne and Düsseldorf, which are two of those big Karnval areas and learned a mix of both cities customs. Only after I moved to Aachen did I even realize that this was another area that had a huge Karneval culture with some quite different customs.
in the southern parts of germany we call it Fasching...🤗🥰 its called the 5th season also and it starts at november 11th at 11:11 o´clock and goes on till ash wednesday...
It's interesting, that Kölsch is called a beer. Most people say, it just is tinted water.
Hi, Ryan! AND DON`T FORGET:
not far away from cologne is the former capital "Bonn". (You remember?) There is "Haribo"! Your (red) gummybears are waiting for you!!! 😋 (...If you didn`t catch enough candy in cologne while the "Street-Karneval" at the Rose-Monday-parade or a smaller one for children...).Greetings 🤗
The largest carnival in the world after Rio is in the Canary Islands (Tenerife)
Carnival in Germany, celebrate the time before the forty-day Lent. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and serves to prepare for Easter.
On the occasion of the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese on October 12, 1810, numerous private and public celebrations took place in Munich, including a horse race on October 17. The Oktoberfest dates back to this.
A very regional thing - in Berlin only younger children celebrate "Fasching" in School or Kindergarten, the adults mostly ignore it.
Oktoberfest is only one specific festival in Munich. Carneval / Fasching / Fasnet is a local Tradition which is very different depending on which region in Germany you go. Gernerally it is a Mix of street fests, balls, parties and parades(for the entire family). Offically starting on the 11.11 until some time in Februar. Some events spread out during this time but the biggest most popular ones happen during the last week.
In my city it is the parades are biggest events of the year blocking the entire city centre. Our most popular greeting here is Nari Naro but traditionally every club has thier own. Popular costumes of organised clubs in south west Germany: witches, Hansele and Guggenmusik and Garde or sometimes themes refering to local history or landscape. I am looking forward to carneval this year is is always a fun to go see the parades.
It starts November 11th at 11:11h and it is mostly like this indor event and the great finale on roses Monday somewhere in February or March with the big Karneval parade with thousands of people watching and participating/partying
Carnival is mostly held in the Rhineland. Whereas Fasching spreads more to the East of the Rhine River. The more East you go all this tradition disappears.
The majority of public venue is held on the Rosenmontags(-zug) “Rose” or Shrove Monday Procession. Somehow similar and a mix of the Steuben Parade and the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Largest of those are held in Cologne and Mainz, then Düsseldorf, Wiesbaden etc
It is the favourite event for kids to go and watch the parade procession because of the candy “rain”
The small bear glasses for the "Kölsch" are called "Stängsche" (or in High-German: Stange), wich means "stick". It's way smaller (0.2 L) that a typical glass of beer in Bavaria (1.0 L). There is an even smaller glass, the "Stössje", which has only 0.1 L beer inside.
There are also different types of carnival/fashing depending on the area you are in. Carnival in Colone, Düsseldorf or Mainz is completely different from Fashing in the Black Forest area for example.
The vlog of My Merry Messi life from sunday, about an American family, living in a little bavarian village, try to survive the Cologne carnival this year was extremly funny
Some questions have been answered, mostly with a bias.
Kölsch is almost exclusively served in 0.2 l glasses. Five of them fill the "giant" Maßkrug known from South-Germany. (Maß = measure -- which is the undivided amount you measure, in this case, beer).
The regular beer of any type has 5% plus/minus 0.2 percent of alcohol. There are beers that have more or less. But these are special purpose beers.
While Oktoberfest is mentioned so often: It was on the second weekend of October, hence the name. Over the years it was extended to last 16 days ending on the first weekend of October -- it was moved forward to use the usually better weather conditions of Indian summer (Altweibersommer = old women summer). Since we now have the 3rd of October as a national holiday the Octoberfest ends on this day if it is after the first weekend of October.
Carnival in German "Karneval", from Latin carne vale (fare well, meat), is the fest and feast before lent. Therefore it is originally tied to the Roman-Catholic religion. But it has a tradition that is a lot older. It used to be a fest to exorcise winter -- and the clergy didn't want to angry the population by forbidding it. (It was more important to have them in the church and then redefine the pagan tradition). In other areas of Germany this is called Fastnacht (fast-eve = the night before lent). Several local varieties of spelling and pronouncing this word exist (Fasnet, Fasching, Fassenacht...) Actually, this is a translation from Latin to German.
Carnival/Fastnacht usually has several events over the course of time from 11th of November 11:11 o'clock to Mardi Gras.
Most known are the street fests with parades and the "Prunksitzungen" (magnificent carnival sessions). Very often political mistakes or incapacities are featured in sculptures, talks, and songs. But, these are supposed to be in good humor and still are not exressed in a diplomatic manner.
Today's activities are rooted in pagan traditions -- in some areas there are still more traditional events to expel winter -- and in a newer tradition to oppose the authorities.
Wikipedia gives a lot more and thorough explanation of these than my memory does. It may be helpful to have the German Wikipedia page translated. Then English pages are ofthen too condensed.
2:22 In the background you can see the fence of the bridge. It is full of love locks. The total weight in 2016 was estimated 27 tons. Now there are more.
You also see them at 4:08
Great you picked the suggestion 😄
Well about the beer ... there is a discussion about if the "beer" in cologne (Kölsch) should actually regarded as beer ... most of germany says "no", people fom cologne say "It's the only beer" (all in good humour, of course) ... it isn't really stromg, many bavarians don't even consider it alcohol (which actually maybe a mistake as many bavaians foud out on a Night out in Cologne)
He wasn' saying "Hello", he was saying "Helau", which is a carnival greeting in most of the cities and villages that celebrate carnival (there are others like "Olau", "Ahoi" or even the odd "Alaaf" in Cologne ).
There are different kinds of carnival at the river rhine where cologne lies. The extremes are Cologne and Mainz I think: "Kölner Karneval" mosty and goofy and frivilous stuff and the "Mainzer Karneval" is usually more political, making jokes about the politicians, politics it self and so on. It mixes a bit, though it usually is very funny and there is alway music and dance.
Most other "Karnevalshochburgen" (Carnival strongholds) are mostly a mix of both (like Koblenz where I am from and lies in the middle between Mainz and Cologne)
I would advice you to watch a video about "Rosenmontagsumzug", both Mainz and Cologne and maybea "Karnevalssitzung", some have subtitles.
Karneval has nothing to do with Oktoberfest, ist is like comparing Halloween with tailgating at the superbowl
Oktoberfest isn't much more than an expensive tourist trap, carnival is an attitude to life for many people along the middle- and lower rhine (for my sister and my best friend for example) that also pulls tourists, but mostly local people (as "local" means a radius of sometimes 100-150km)
And Oktoberfest is not only in southern germany, Oktoberfest is ONLY in Munich. Everything else that calls itself Oktoberfest is a knock off.
Carnival on the rhine starts on November 11 (11.11.) on exactly 11:11 hours, ends on ash wednesday (46 days before easter Sunday, usually late February, early March) and the 2 weeks before ash wednesday are usually the "high season" for carnivalists. Though there are lower tier events with fewer participants from November through ash wednesday.
The carnival season, also known as the "Fifth Season", begins each year on 11 November at 11:11 a.m. and finishes on Ash Wednesday of the following year with the main festivities happening around Rosenmontag (Rose Monday).[1]
Although the festivities and parties start as early as the beginning of January, the actual carnival week starts on the Fat Thursday (Weiberfastnacht) before Ash Wednesday (in Germany). The big German carnival parades are held on the weekend before and especially on Rosenmontag, the day before Shrove Tuesday, and sometimes also on Shrove Tuesday (Faschingsdienstag or Veilchendienstag) itself in the suburbs of larger carnival cities.
For the most of us germans, Carnival/Fastnacht/Fasching is really popular and a part of our culture. We call it the 5th Season of the year. Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Fasching :D
You should check out the Rosenmontagszug (Rose Monday Parade) through the town of Cologne. Then you will understand that what you have just seen is only the tip of the iceberg.
It had 12000 participants and hundreds of thousands of spectators this year.
Carnival is not celebrated everywhere in Germany as big or at all. Mainly in North Rhine-Westphalia, but also in some other cities across Germany.
In northern Germany, there are only a few cities that do it.
In Braunschweig, for example, the whole thing is much smaller than in Cologne, and even there were more than 300,000 spectators.
This was only one "Sitzung" of Thousends happening in the Karneval season ;) not even mentioning the big Parades and Partys on the side.
Aust you know @Ryan, the Video was about the traditional Karneval. The traditional Karneval is relatively similar in every Karnevalhochburg ( Karneval hotspot) BUT don’t be fooled, the bulk of people is on the street Karneval witch is ... insane if you didn’t knew what will come towards you 😂👌🏽 that’s where everyone has a Kostüm and drink to much😅🤗 and just to point it out a little bit: your phone doesn’t work there (to much people) so: your either reachable by phone, or you are on the street Karneval -you can’t get both😂🤷🏽♂️
Also as Long as I know, the origin of the Düsseldorfer Karneval is about the one time in the year where the duke would throw a „party“ and everyone could say him -masked, what he think. without being punished.
Kölsch is a top-fermented beer that goes stale faster than other beers. Therefore, it is served in smaller glasses so that it is drunk faster. At the same time, at least in the usual restaurants and breweries, the beer is constantly being replenished without being asked. Many underestimate the amount of beer they consume when the number of strokes is high. The typical Kölsch (0.2 l) is a "two-sip beer", you drink it in two sips. Well, some like it less fast too. 😉
In order to stop the steady supply, you have to place the beer mat/coaster (made of cardboard) on the current glass. This is the sign that you have enough and may want to pay. Because on the beer mat/coaster, the drunk beers (or other drinks) are usually noted with a pencil.
You have to watch more about it. Carnival is the best!
The smaller beer, is called Kölsch, its more dishwater than beer 🤣
the small beer glasses are called "Stangen" and the beer within, "Kölsch" is very light and easy to drink. The fun thing about Kölsch is it really sneaks up on you. You can easily drink 10-20 of those during a night out a feel fine and them BAM you drink just one to many and suddenly you are wasted. The lightly buzzed phase lasts really long when drinking Kölsch.
You have to watch a video about street carnival / Straßencarneval and schwäbische Fastnacht. It's around the same time but the background is different. In Nordrhein-westfalen and Rheinland-pfalz it's about making fun about the military. As told in this video. In southern Germany it's more about casting out the winter and different kinds of traditional costumes. Often made of woods and with witches
You should check out the Street Parades.
Also those tiny glasses make the beer go stale slower and since you can drink them much faster the beer also stays cool until you finish it.
A remark on the uniforms:
When all the smaller states around the Rhine valley joined the Norddeutsche Bund (North German Confederation) in the 19th century they became dominated by the Kingdom of Prussia with its militaristic traditions. The cultural difference was additionally enhanced by the different christian denominations: north Germany and particularly Prussia was dominated by the protestant church whereas in west and south Germany the majority is catholic. Another element of influence could be see in the culture of growing and consuming wine along the river Rhine.
The parading and dancing in uniforms was introduced to Carnival in order to mock the Prussian authorities. The longer that situation persisted the more it became a signature feature of Carnival in the Rhine valley.
You can find that Carnival tradition particularly all along the Rhine river. Another city notorious for its Carnival celebrations is Mainz. Mind that both, Cologne and Mainz, are seats of bishops of the roman-catholic church.
Karneval is also called „Fasching“ in some other regions of Germany and people who are obsessed with carnival calling it the fifth season of the year. 🎉
Hi Ryan, in Cologne and in Düsseldorf (there biggest rival city) there serve beer in those tiny glasses since both beer variants Kölsch (in Cologne) and the dark Atl beer (in Düsseldorf) are special brews. Bit on important advise if you are drinking beer in those cities and their surroundings, the replenish your glass automatically when it is empty without asking until you put the beer coaster on top of your beer glass.
Kölsch glasses may be small, but on the upside: the beer won't go bad. Just take one (also called a Stange), toss it down, next ome - and less than half-an-hour later every Geiger counter in the area will explode when you walk nearby. ^^
Depending on where you are there are completely different traditions!
In Köln they celebrate 'Karneval' and further south towards Bavaria and Austria it is a bit darker and called 'Fasching', 'Fasnat' and other terms!.
In my town for example it has a darker tone. Instead of historical costumes or the king/ queen looks our clubs carve their own wooden masks to resemble scary winter witches or spring children. The witches are usually men, dress with odd red hats, dresses & aprons. The spring children can be both male & female, wear blank white creepy masks and flower costumes. We drive out winter by burning the head witch at the stake and pitting the winter witches & spring children against each other in a ropepulling competition. Becoming a witch is a long hard process , but you get rewarded by being allowed to steal people's beer everywhere and scare kids! Other towns have people dressed as 'winter wolves' and more, it's very fun! We do have the colorful float parades with the dancing troupes and people dressing up crazy/funny for all events too though, same as in Köln.
The video is about just one event of Carnival in Cologne. It's a Carnival conference, a kind of comedic variety show. Mind that there are dozens of such events all over Cologne during Carnival. Almost every district of the city of Cologne has its own Carnival congregation with a particular costume or uniform. They're all participating in several parades during Carnival and particularly in the biggest parde on Rosenmontag/Roses Monday.
The same is happening in Düsseldorf and Mainz and on a smaller scale in many towns particularly along the rivers Rhine, Main and Neckar.
In the southern part of Baden-Württemberg Carnival is called Fasnacht/Fasnet and it follows the much older Alemannic tradition. But it's happening at exactly the same time.
These small beers are called „Kölsch“ and they’re a specialty of the city of Köln (Cologne) they’re supposedly smaller so you can drink more glasses. It’s also custom that they’re refilled until you put your paper tap or hand on it
Firstly, there is a significant distinction between what is known as "Sitzungs-Karneval" and "Straßen-Karneval." The former typically takes place indoors and requires paid admission, featuring music and dance performances, as well as humorous and often political speeches known as "Büttenreden," which poke fun at local or national authorities. In contrast, the latter is an outdoor event where various clubs showcase their theme-based wagons that they have been working on for the past year. These clubs usually wear fancy uniforms or other pre-agreed costumes, and it is customary in Cologne to throw sweets towards the watching crowds. A significant proportion of the spectators also dress up in costumes.
The carnival season, also known as "Session" in Cologne, begins on November 11th at 11:11 am and lasts until Ash Wednesday. During this period, "Sitzungs-Karneval" is more prevalent, with "Straßen-Karneval" commencing on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, also known as "Alt Weiber." This is when carnivalists "take over" the local town halls, and the processions with theme wagons usually begin on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, ending on Carnival Tuesday. The most famous processions occur on Shrove Monday.
Mainz, Düsseldorf, and Cologne are the main focal points of Carnival celebrations, but it's also essential to note that there is a unique form of Carnival in the southwest of Germany and parts of Switzerland known as "Allemanische Fastnacht."
This fest is mostly in the Ruhrgebiet. Starts at the 11.11 at 11:11 and End in March with Aschermittwoch. Massiv Events like you have seen and a big final in March. In Hamburg and Kiel are the big habour fests in the Summer
no, in the ruhrgebiet we find it very suspicious, when our neighbours in the rhineland go crazy each year
don't confuse Ruhrgebiet and Rheinland. It's like saying Kiel is on the northsea shore.
Hahahah no colonge beer is nor "more alcohol" Kölsch outside of colonge is called pisswater
die einzige Art und Weise Wasser zu verdünnen
..."pisswater" - which is why Bavarians on their first visit to Cologne typically get drunk to the edge of alcohol poisoning. 😉
I don't celebrate carnival but I was at a concert on november 11th once and it was very small venue with about 100 people ish. sting's daughter was performing who we later spoke to outside, and she was just about to head through the city to check out whats going on. its fun, when a pirate friend of you is standing at the concert constantly looking through her spyglass towards the stage. or when you go buy a kebap at 2am and some halfdestroyed astronaut is standing next to you, you feel the different vibe thats going on in that town during that time. its unique xD
Carnival in Germany officially starts at November 11th at 11:11 am and ends at Fat Tuesday the following year with Christmas and New Years being minor styling variations in between. So it's about three plus months of party time. Although really the biggest partying is mostly in the last week or so.
Karneval is something more of a western German thing. In northern Germany we look at it with disgust. Just how we look at Oktoberfest with disgust.
it is more prevalent in predominantly catholic regions. Now it spread a little bit, but you can still see the historical connection.
In Germany you mostly dress up scary on Halloween so it is quite different to Karneval
Okay, I dont know how many people already commented this, but I'll just do it anyways xD:
Karneval has two or some say three sides to it:
Sitzungs-Karneval: Its what you saw in the Video. It has a long standing tradition in Cologne and the Rhineland overall. You must buy tickets to the Sitzung, just like you would buy a ticket to a tent at Oktoberfest. Food, alcohol and entertainment for a large group, not really cheap but a lot of fun and the most "traditional" way to celebrate it. Everyone dresses up.
Kneipen-Karneval or "Bar-Karneval" : Many Breweries and bars in the Big cities have Karvels-Parties, where some "special sort of folk music" --> Karnevalsmusik is played. It is sung in the local dialect and carries a lot of local city patriotism or melancholy or just your typical party and drinking topics. You drink eat and dance, like at a normal party, but everyone is dressed up and the entire city is in a party mood (except for the few that absolutly hate it xD).
Then there is "Straßen-Karneval" or "Street-Karneval": This is most often celebrated by younger folks, as it is the cheepest. At the End of the Karvals-Season there are a lot of parades all throughout the Rhineland, most commonly know is the "Rosenmontagszug" in Cologne. People meet up at these parades, dressed up, watch the parade, get drunk and celebrate together in the streets.
Overall you can describe Karneval as one big celebration with loud music, a lot of alcohol and a ton of people throughout the cities and villiages. The way it is celebrated in the Area of Colgone and i believe Mainz is the most well known to the "outside world", yet it does not represent all of Germany, as it tends to be an extreme in these Cities. Many other Cities and smaller villages have their own Parades and small parties and Sitzungen, but it does not escalate as it does in Cologne for example.
It starts on 11.11 or "Elfter Elfter" and comes to an end 46 days before Easter-Sunday on "Aschermittwoch". Most of it happens at the end of it. Sitzungen however happen alle the way from 11.11 to Aschermittwoch. Hope this helps xD. If you are a Party-Guy and ever get the chance to celebrate it, i would advise you to try it out.
Much of the Parades and Stuff is very Childfriendly too, as long as you are in the right areas, as the Parades distribute sweets to everyone watching for free (kids love it xD).
Greetings from Cologne, Germany from a Karnevals-Fan!
the little bier is a "Kölsch",quickly drunk and just order a fresh new one :)
Oktoberfest is only really celebrated in bavaria, i, as a german myself, have never been to Oktoberfest.
Carnival or Fasching on the other hand is celebrated all around the west and south of germany, and definitely more well known and celebrated all over germany than oktoberfest.
In my region in the northwest there is hardly any carnival, up here it is rather not a tradition and if it is, then it is more for the children. I was born in one of the northernmost carnival towns, Papenburg, on Rosenmontag (always 48 days before Easter Sunday), the main day of the carnival. That was the closest hospital, I came into the world quite quickly and the ambulance had to drive around drunk people coming from the carnival parade (it was at noon) and the midwife had a big red clown nose on her face and my mother yelled at her to remove the nose and help her😂 But I went along exactly at this annual parade 20 years later, dressed as Santa Claus like 15 other people from my clique with a handcart with music, full of booze and sweets. It was kind of funny, halfway through though I kind of blacked out. 😂The next day I had four blisters on my feet and a bad cold. The experience was enough for me.
The video only touched a small portion of the topic Karneval. Most people don't get to visit "Sitzungen" but a lot of cities have their own street carnival and usually every city has their own "Narrenruf" (the call they made in the video where one yells the cities name and the rest says the respective answer). In Cologne it's Alaaf and the rival city Düsseldorf says Helau which is why he was so adamant about not yelling 'hello' because it sounds similar to Helau. The rivalry between them is so intense, a wrong word can give you unwanted attention ;) When Cologne and Düsseldorf play football against each other there's a shit ton of police involved 😂
But there are many different regional calls mostly shouted at the parades.
The parades are mostly a kids thing and the adults meet up in costumes and just get wasted 🤣
4:09 he said Helau which is the thing to shout in Mainz and the surrounding area. Every region or even every town has their special phrase.
Carnival is more regional, even if the children also celebrate it at school. Cologne is in the west of Germany. Oktoberfest is in Munich, in the south of Germany. But these two festivals are so well-known that every German knows them.
We here in the north tend to celebrate Reformation Day (coincidentally on the same day as Halloween.).
But we also have the Bremen Freimarkt (rides and stalls with food or games), or other regional markets that are similar in structure.
Or our Sail, which takes place every five years. The largest windjammer festival in Europe. With up to 2 million visitors and 250 ships, music, food and a great atmosphere.
Drinking "Kölsch" is an op-out.😜 The waiter (Köbes) will always change your empty glas with a full one. He only stops if you put your coaster on the glas. So the beer is always fresh and cold.
Karneval is a very interesting topic and there is way more about it than it was shown in the video
If you like it a little bit more creepy and historical I highly reccommend checking out the Swabian-Alemannic Carnival.
Every village in the South West part of Germany has their own carnival characters with beautifully handcrafted wooden masks and really colorful costumes. Mostly there are witches and demons and there are many traditions in the towns which are a little bit more creepy to strive out all evil so people can welcome spring and start the holy fasting time till Easter celebration.
As someone who was born and raised in Cologne, this was very interesting to see your reaction. You absolutely have to watch a video about the Karneval in the streets.
you definitely have to watch more videos about Karneval 😅
05:21 No, it actually has the same as most other beers.
It's just smaller and tastes like dishwater (SHOTS FIRED!)