Karneval beginnt am kommenden Donnerstag!

Carneval begins this coming Thursday!

Carneval is the celebratory season/week-long party before Lent. Carneval is centuries old and is found most frequently in Catholic areas, however similar celebrations are found to date back to pre-Christian times.

Time is of utmost importance for carnival:  at 11.11 a.m. sharp the carnival begins--on Thursday the 12th, known as Weiberfastnacht. In between Thursday and Rosenmontag (Rose Monday), there will be parties galore, in particular in Cologne (Köln). Monday the traditional parade will take place, so hold your hats and get ready for some distinct opinions on world events and German politics brought to you by the wonderful media of paper mache.

The parties continue up until Ashermittwoch (Ash Wednesday), where we turn to the season of Lent.

But not until then.

Until then, we call out "Kölle alaaf!"

Meine Tipps für Sie:

For a more in-depth exploration, check out this article I wrote on Karneval last year.

Here is a fantastic slideshow from SWR1.de about the Schwäbisch-Allemanische Fastnacht and its origins--absolut faszinierend! (Auf Deutsch.)