Karneval
Karneval is celebrated in Germany , Austria and Switzerland. The biggest Karneval fans, however, are on the Rhein. Very popular are the Mainz, Cologne, and Duesseldorf Karneval celebrations. Karneval actually begins on November 11 at 11:11 pm ( St Martins day), but most of the masked balls and parades are in January and February. The most important day of Karneval is Rosenmontag (Rose Monday), which is two days before Ash Wednesday. There are big parades all over on this day. The streets are full of people. Everyone is dressed up in costumes and is happy. Then, on Ash Wednesday, the partying is all over until November of next year. In the southwest of Germany, the celebrations are different from those on the Rhine. The farmers, who are celebrating the coming of spring, dress up as old women in order to scare away the evil spirits. They run through the town at night making loud noises. In every village, the customs are different, but each village has the same costumes and masks. They run through the streets singing and dancing. At night they walk into the mountains with torches and make bonfires and burn witches of straw (almost in a superstitious way). Afterwards they look forward to the coming of spring. Rosenmontag is one of the biggest celebrations of the year in Germany. Two days before Ash Wednesday there are masked balls, parades, and parties. In fact, on Rosenmontag you stand out as unusual if you aren't wearing some sort of costume or haven't painted a clown face on yourself! Koeln's many Karneval associations put a lot of effort into building and decorating the floats for the Rosenmontag parade. Fasching, Fastnacht or Fastnet in different parts of Germany means "night before the fast." Shrove Tuesday (fat Tuesday in French is Mardi Gras) is celebrated by using up all of the lard (animal fat used in cooking) and sweets before the beginning of Lent. This day is also called "Doughnut Day" or Fastnacht Day" in Pennsylvania Dutch circles in our area. Many private organizations ( fire halls and churches) still make homemade "Fastnachts" on Shrove Tuesday and area doughnut shops are busy selling doughnuts to hungry customers. The custom has it that the last person in the family to get out of bed on Fastnacht Day is the "Fastnacht." That person receives the last or least desirable piece of dough from the batch of doughnuts. Also, in Germany, the dough is formed into creative shapes like braids for the girls and snails for the boys in the family. The last person up in the morning gets the least shapeless "lump" of dough for his or her Fastnacht treat. Aschermittwoch means "Ash Wednesday" in German. This marks the end of all of the celebrations that began on November 11. It is a solemn religious holiday in Germany as it is here. Many Catholics still go to church on Ash Wednesday to receive ashes on their foreheads to commemorate the beginning of Lent. Many people still give something up for Lent to commemorate Christ's forty days in the wilderness without food. Weiberfastnacht (women's carnival night) is the Thursday before Rosenmontag, and it is tradition that women are allowed to cut off the tie ( a symbol of male chauvinism) of any man within reach, and to kiss any man they want to. Women going out that night to pubs take scissors with them. Sometimes they even "storm" city hall that day and make the mayor hand over the keys to the city!.
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