For the first time since the Corona crisis, the fools in Germany’s carnival strongholds are celebrating Shrove Monday again without restrictions. The train started in Cologne on Monday morning at 10 a.m. – for the first time on the right bank of the Rhine in the Deutz district, so that it connects both sides of the cathedral city. In other carnival strongholds such as Düsseldorf and Mainz, things should start a little later on Monday morning. Cologne is celebrating an anniversary this year. On February 10, 1823, the first Rose Monday parade took place here. The motto this year is: “200 years of Cologne Carnival: Ov krüzz oder quer”. In Düsseldorf, the carnival people celebrate under the motto “We celebrate life” and in Mainz “Fastnacht is all about – for peace, freedom, tolerance”.
Carnival strongholds expect thousands of partygoers
The Mainz Rose Monday parade started with brass band music and shouts of Helau after a two-year Corona break. As the first of 137 train numbers, the Mainz knights’ guild set off in sunny weather. Under the motto “In Mainz, Fastnacht stands for peace, freedom, tolerance!” a total of around 9200 active participants were on the road, including more than 2000 musicians. Thousands of spectators lined the roadside in Mainz Neustadt, where the seven-kilometre-long Lindwurm train route begins. As the organizer, the Mainz Carneval Association (MCV) expects around 550,000 spectators – just like before Corona. A special focus of many is the ten motif floats with their satirical comments on domestic and world politics and events in Mainz.
Federal Chancellor immortalized on a motif car
The Federal Chancellor can be seen on one as a “Scholzomat”. The biting satire of the Fastnachter also affects the Russian warlord Vladimir Putin and the mullahs in Iran. The police want to be present in the city with around 1,000 emergency services throughout the day on Shrove Monday. “We are prepared for anything,” said a police spokesman. The move will be the 119th since it premiered in 1838. The costs for security had risen exorbitantly, MCV President Hannsgeorg Schönig said in advance. The financing of the mobile cars was also difficult. However, it was possible to involve other clubs and guards.
See the video: “It’s about alcohol and sex” – Augstein and Blome argue about carnival in times of war.
In 2022, the Rose Monday trains were canceled again due to the corona pandemic. There was a peace rally in Cologne last year because of the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, which peaked at 250,000 people.