Kings Journal: Rhenish Carnival (Patreon)

In this journal I summarize Rhenish Carnival, because like Oktoberfest not all Germans celebrate it.
The Rhineland is no state in Germany, but it represents an area with similar traditions and mentalities. The Rhineland is known for being cordially, open and relaxed.
Three German states can be considered as parts of the Rhineland:
Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland. All three states are different, but share a common history.
Fun fact: Charlemagne was also from Rhineland.

The origin
The origin of Rhenish Carnival is not exactly known. It is an old tradition to wear costumes at the end of winter to scare frost spirits to clear the path for spring.
There is also a connection to an ancient Roman tradition that worshipped Saturn with a festival.
In the past  Germanics and Romans lived in Rhineland so it is possible, that both traditions fusioned.

Carnival in different centuries
At Carnival civil differences vanish and all men are equal while they sing and dance and celebrate.
The only authority during Carnival is King Carnival who does not exist in person, but in mind.
In early centuries nobles celebrated masquerades in palaces while commoners had several chaotic parties in the streets. Later the celebration became more organized with clubs and parades and upper class joined and supported the festivals.
Rhenish Carnival has been shaped by a resistant character. Resistance against invasion, against military, kings, against religious suppression, against any suppression of freedom.
Carnival fights with parody and sarcasm. Many clubs wear costumes which are parodies of military uniforms.
When Napoleon invaded the Rhineland locals appreciated their new civil rights, but they also considered Napoleon's demand for obedience and focus on military power as ridiculous.
As a consequence parody versions of soldiers dance to entertain an audience during Carnival.
Later the Prussians bought the Rhineland from France (that took the territory from Germany under Napoleon's command) and demanded the catholic population to stop celebrating Carnival, because Prussians were protestant and a festival where people have fun, drink alcohol and ignore modesty did not fit into protestant's prude way of life.
So Rhinelanders included parodies of Prussians into their parades to shame them.
In general Carnival has been forbidden by authorities several times during history.

In Nazi-Germany the Nazis forced most Carnival clubs into line to erase every sign of protest or parody against the dictation.

After WW2 the tradition of Carnival was revived and since then it is a regular festival

Carnival nowadays
Carnival starts on a different date in February each year (while the official beginning is November 11th on 11:11 o'clock for a single day). The first day in February is always a Thursday and the celebrations durate until the following Tuesday. During these days people of any age wear costumes, visit parades or „Karnevalssitzungen“. A Karnevalssitzung is a party in a decorated hall with an entertainment program on stage. There is food and drinks and you need a ticket to enter.
There are also special Sitzungen for men only, women only and kids only. Children are not allowed to enter the Sitzungen for adults, that's why they have their own ones.

Growing up in Rhineland
I was born in Rhineland and I grew up there, too.
I wore my first costume as a baby.
As a child Carnival is fantastic, because you go to school wearing a costume on Thursday, but there aren't any lessons, because there is either an entertainment program in the gym or you celebrate in class until midday. Then all kids go home and in the village were I lived we had a small parade in the afternoon so I grabbed a big bag to collect sweets.
Sweets are thrown at all Carnival parades in Rhineland. I literally mean „to throw“.

You can be hit by chocolate, bonbons, popcorn, crisps, marshmallows, gummibears, small plushies and more.
It is like a rain of free sweets (better dodge when they throw hard sweets).
So while adults celebrate children crawl all over the ground to collect sweets in their bags.
It might sound strange, but it really is fun.
After the parade I always shared and exchanged my sweets with friends and my siblings. Since taste is different you can share sweets you do not like with sweets you like.
These are some of my favourite sweets from my childhood.

Fun fact: HARIBO was founded in Rhineland.

On Saturdays I visited the Karnevalssitzung for children in our village. Where you got soda, coke and more sweets. There were games and there was a program on stage with humour for kids.
On Sundays I visited the parade in a town nearby, where I collected more sweets and watched nice costumes.
Carnival parades consist of many clubs who wear costumes and drive special, decorated vehicles. There are music groups, dancers and more.
Some vehicles in a parade are a pardody of politics, national and international.
Some big parades are aired live in public TV.
Please don't be offended by the following examples. Carnival is about humour. 

(nature and environment)

(do something against the climate change - Greta holds the parents generation)

(the refugee wave capsizes chancelor Merkels boat)

(a cardinal is going to burn a woman who aborted - claiming it is traditional)

(drivers with diesel cars have no chance) 

(The PIS party gets rid of liberal Poland)

Carnival as an adult
Carnival lost it's magic for me while growing older.
As a boy I had so much fun, but as a teenager things changed, when friends and other people of my age just used Carnival as an excuse to drink alcohol without any limit or common sense and many people do so.
Carnival can be a nice festival, but once you are surrounded by hundreds of drunk who piss and puke everywhere the party spirit is gone.
Churches in some big cities build wooden walls to protect the architecture from harm.
Drunk really piss on a cathedral's wall. There is no shame left. Males and Females are sexually molested and the idea that this festival was also once used to protest against suppression is nearly forgotten. Tourists also consider this festival as an opportunity to forget all their manners.

Another problem for me is, that I can not switch my mood on „happy“ for the date of Carneval. I have a perfect example. It is the weekend of Carnival and within the same week someone shared over 2000 Patreon exclusive posts against my rules for free.
So my mood is not „happy“ and I can not change that with sweets or alcohol.
In general I do not drink alcohol, because it makes me aggressive and rude.

The good things
I like creative and well done costumes, as well as decorated vehicles. The parody ones are fun and I guess that celebrating without a limit can be healthy for some people to break free from their daily routine. 

Wearing costumes is also a nice experience. I had the following costumes in the past:
the sun, Micky Mouse, a wizard, a vampire, a robot, a frog, a cow, a scarecrow and a cowboy. The best costume was the cowboy, because the hat protected me against rain/snow or hard sweets and the clothing kept me warm (it is always winter during Carnival).
Rhenish Carnival can be an exciting experience, especially for foreigners or Germans who do not celebrate it. Nevertheless the wild spirit of Carnival can be too much for some people.

Two fun facts at last: Some cities in Rhineland have monuments to honour Carnival.
For example the Carnival fountain in the city of Mainz, that shows 200 figures with costumes.
German news also report about Carnival in Brazil each year.   

I hope you enjoyed this journal.
Do you celebrate Carnival or would you be interested in it?
I look forward to read your answer in the comments.

Thank you for reading.