Germany, especially the western parts (North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate), is famous for Karneval celebrations consisting of parades and costume balls. In the South of Germany and Austria, Karneval is called Fasching, and in Franconia and some other parts of Germany it is called Fastnacht.

Although the festival and party season in Germany starts as early as the beginning of January, the actual carnival week starts on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday Altweiberfastnacht. German Carnival parades are held on the weekend before and especially on Rosenmontag (Rose Monday), the day before Shrove Tuesday, and sometimes also on Shrove Tuesday Faschingsdienstag in the suburbs of larger carnival cities. The carnival session begins each year on November 11th at 11:11 a.m. and finishes on Ash Wednesday. Most festivities happen around Rosenmontag; this time is also called the Fifth Season.

In the Rhineland, festivities developed especially strongly, as it was a way to express subversive anti-Prussian and anti-French thoughts in times of occupation, through parody and mockery. Modern carnival there began in 1823 with the founding of a Carnival Club in Cologne. Today all Carnival Clubs are assembled in the German Carnival Association. Most cities and villages of the Rhineland have their own individual Carnival traditions. Nationally famous is the Carnival in Cologne (Köln), Duesseldorf and Mainz.

In the Rhineland, the Carnival season is considered to be the "fifth season of the year", starting at November 11th at exactly 11:11 a.m. Carnival clubs organize "sessions" which are show events called Prunksitzung with club members or invited guests performing dance, comedy and songs in fancy dresses.

The main event is the street carnival that takes place in the period between the Thursday before Ash Wednesday and Ash Wednesday. Carnival Thursday is called "Altweiber" (old women) or Wieverfastelovend (The women's day). On the following days, there are parades in the street organized by the local carnival clubs. The highlight of the carnival period however is Rose Monday. Rose Monday is not a national bank holiday in the Rhineland but it is in reality because most of public life comes to a rest and almost all firms are closed and shops are only open in the morning or not at all. The biggest parades are on Rose Monday, the famous Rosenmontagszug (Rose Monday Parade), eg. in Cologne, Duesseldorf and many other cities. During these events, hundreds of thousands of people celebrate in the streets at low temperatures, most of them dressed up in fancy clothes.

The "Swabian-Alemannic" carnival begins on January 6 (Epiphany/Three Kings Day). This celebration is known as Fastnacht (literally "Fasting Eve" as it originally referred to the eve of the fasting season). Variants are Fasnet, Fasnacht or Fasent. Fastnacht is held in Baden-Württemberg, parts of Bavaria, and Alsace. Switzerland and Vorarlberg, in Austria, also hold this celebration. The festival starts on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, known in these regions as Schmutziger Donnerstag or Fettdonnerstag. In standard German, schmutzig means "dirty", but actually the name is from the local dialect where schmutzig means "fat"; "Greasy Thursday". Elsewhere, the day is called "Women's Carnival" Weiberfastnacht, being the day when tradition says that women take control. In particular regions of Tyrol, Salzburg and Bavaria traditional processions of the Perchten welcome the springtime. The Schönperchten ("beautiful Perchts") represent the birth of new life in the awakening nature, the Schiachperchten ("ugly Perchts") represent the dark spirits of wintertime. Farmers yearn for warmer weather and the Perchtenlauf (Run of Perchts; typical scenery) is a magical expression of that desire. The nights between winter and spring, when evil ghosts are supposed to go around, are also called Rauhnächte ("rough nights").

Join us at the Turn Verein for our own Karneval celebration.

Mask of an "Ugly Percht"