Karnival is a huge deal in much of Europe. Starting on Weiberfastnacht (which Jake talked about-basically the night when it is socially acceptable for all women to turn into Maenads), and going until what we call Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, Karnival is a huge celebration. The Monday during this period is called Rosenmontag and is usually the biggest celebration. That is when there are parades in every major city and people use it as an excuse to start drinking at 8:00 am or so.
So we went to the parade in Münster. It is not considered especially big for Germany, but it is bigger than any parade I have ever been to before. Rosenmontag parades consist of floats, often extremely elaborate, that are made by Karnivalklubs. They are groups who's entire purpose is to plan and build these floats and then take them to the parade. These groups can be businesses, political groups, or just random people. Here are some of the more interesting ones:
I'm not really sure what this one was supposed to be.
The Euro-sow. Nice political statement.
And the wild west float.
So that was an interesting experience. The parade started at 12:11 and it was still going on when we left at about 4:30.Since then has been normal class. Not too much to say. There was a test in German, a short paper in Paideia. I think they both went fine.
Bis Später,
Marcus
When we lived in München there were lots of activities - parties and such - but I don't remember any kind of parade. The big deal was the dance of the market women that occurred at the Viktualienplatz. I went one year and it was so crowded that once I joined the crowd I could only move with everyone else until I was spit out on a different edge. The second year we went with friends to venice for carnival.
ReplyDelete