The Beginning of Carnival

The Germans love Carnival or Karneval as they spell it here. Before moving to Germany I always thought of New Orleans or Brazil when I thought about Carnival. Germany was never a country that came to mind as a crazy party destination.

However, after being here for a few months I have come to learn that Germans wholeheartedly embrace such debauchery and Oktoberfest and Carnival are two prime examples. It seems that Germans are always looking for a reason to start drinking before noon.

The official launch date of Carnival is Nov. 11, but the week that people go crazy is in February. No one seemed to know why Nov. 11th was the start of Carnival so I did a little research.

Nov. 11th is Saint Martin's Day, which during the middle ages started a 40-day fast both preceded and followed by excessive eating and drinking. Additionally, the number 11 has historically been considered a number of sin. So at 11:11 on Nov. 11th, the Germans in Bonn kick off Carnival dressed up in costumes, drinking Kolsch (local beer) and singing traditional German Karneval songs.

On Tuesday, I met a few friends downtown to see what it was all about. I was surprised how many people were dressed up on a Tuesday morning at 10:30 am. A lot of the costumes didn’t make a lot of sense – like a cowboy riding an elephant. Apparently in Germany, you can just put a crazy hat and a boa and you are dressed up. You don’t necessarily need to actually be something; being poorly dressed is apparently enough of a costume.

I think the best part of the morning was seeing three little old ladies standing in a circle passing a bottle of wine around. That maybe and seeing Genghis Kahn.