Guest Author - Holly Fox

It is said that if you wear a tie in Cologne during the period between Fat Thursday (the Thursday before Lent) and Shrove Tuesday (the last day before Lent begins, also known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday) it will be cut off. While this strikes heart in the fear of stern Hamburgers, it’s just part of the insanity of Carnival and what is considered the “fifth season” in traditionally Catholic areas in Germany, including Cologne, Mainz, and Düsseldorf.

Based on the religious calendar, this season begins after Epiphany on January the 6th, but now officially begins on St. Martin’s Day, November 11th, at 11:11 am. However, festivities still mostly take a backseat to Christmas and the Advent season until after Epiphany when they slowly begin to gather energy. The days between Fat Thursday and Shrove Tuesday are when the real Carnival takes shape with a huge parade on Rosenmontag or “Rose Monday” and a mix of official and unofficial celebrations with parades, costumes, music, and lots of kisses until Ash Wednesday begins. During this time an official prince, virgin, and farmer are chosen as the highest Carnival representatives and everyone is expected to dress up. Even children in non-Carnival parts of Germany, like Hamburg, dress up in costumes for a parade at school, very similar to Halloween in the US. In fact, today I picked up a Meerjungfrau or mermaid from preschool and even saw an adult with her face painted waiting for the bus. A couple of young Vikings passed me on the way to the subway. None of this compares, of course, to full out partying going on right now in Cologne, Mainz, and Düsseldorf.

As Carnival isn’t much more than a few mermaids and vikings on the streets here in Hamburg, I’ve had to ask my non-Hamburger friends to get a better idea of what it’s like there. One friend warned against making the trip to Cologne “unless you like being kissed by strangers, ON THE LIPS.” When I asked what they would be doing on Ash Wednesday, another friend answered “mourning.” The end of the party, of course, not the coming crucifixion of Christ. Because after Carnival comes Lent and fasting and no more costumes, parades, or indulgent sweets. A tradition meant to prepare the faithful flock for the forty days of deprivation and use up the last bits of meat and other off-limits food has turned into the event itself, more adhered to than any pre-Easter regimen of prayer and fasting.