On 11 November at 11:11, thousands of people in fancy dress fill the squares of Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz. The fünfte Jahreszeit, the fifth season, has begun. It pauses for Advent and Christmas and comes back in January, building up to a week of parades, parties and very little work in February or early March.
Not all of Germany takes part. In Berlin or Hamburg you might hardly notice. But if you live in the Rhineland, the south-west or Bavaria, you'll need the words, and you'll need to know which greeting to shout where.
Karneval, Fasching or Fastnacht?
| Name | Where | What's typical |
|---|---|---|
Karneval | Rhineland: Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn, Aachen | big street parades, sweets thrown from floats, costume parties in every bar |
Fasching | Bavaria, Saxony, Berlin and Brandenburg, Austria | costume balls, children's parties, smaller parades |
Fastnacht | Mainz, Hesse, the south-west | in Mainz much like Karneval; in Baden-Württemberg the old Fasnet, with carved wooden masks |
All three end on the same day: Aschermittwoch, Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins.
The Calls: Helau or Alaaf?
| Call | Where you shout it |
|---|---|
Kölle Alaaf! | Cologne and the area around it, including Bonn |
Helau! | Düsseldorf, Mainz, and most other carnival towns |
Narri! Narro! | the Swabian-Alemannic Fasnet in the south-west |
Watch out: never shout Helau in Cologne, or Alaaf in Düsseldorf. The two cities have a long, friendly rivalry, and the wrong call gets you booed, mostly in good humour.
The Key Days
| Day | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
11.11. | 11 November, 11:11 | the season opens |
Weiberfastnacht | the Thursday before Ash Wednesday | women take over town halls and cut off men's ties |
Karnevalssamstag | Saturday | parades in smaller towns, parties everywhere |
Rosenmontag | Monday | the big parades in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz |
Veilchendienstag / Faschingsdienstag | Tuesday | the last parties; in some towns a straw figure is burnt at night |
Aschermittwoch | Wednesday | it's all over, and many people eat fish |
The dates move with Easter. Rosenmontag is always 48 days before Easter Sunday, so it falls somewhere between early February and early March. Look up Easter, count back, and you know when the parades are.
Carnival Words
costume
das Kostüm
to dress up
sich verkleiden
mask
die Maske
make-up, face paint
die Schminke
parade
der Umzug
float
der Wagen
sweets thrown from floats
die Kamelle
carnival fool, reveller
der Jeck / der Narr
carnival club
der Karnevalsverein
formal carnival show
die Prunksitzung
comic speech
die Büttenrede
carnival prince
der Prinz
doughnut
der Krapfen / der Berliner
Practice these words
das Kostüm
Kamelle are the sweets thrown from the floats, and the crowd shouts the word to get some. In Cologne, people also catch Strüßjer, little bunches of flowers, and give out Bützchen, quick kisses on the cheek.
Büttenrede: a comic speech in rhyme, given from a barrel-shaped lectern, the Bütt. Politicians are a favourite target.
In Cologne the season is led by the Dreigestirn: a prince, a farmer and a "maiden", the Jungfrau, traditionally played by a man.
At the Party
What are you going as?
Als was gehst du?
I'm going as a pirate.
Ich gehe als Pirat.
Great costume!
Tolles Kostüm!
Are you going to the parade?
Gehst du zum Umzug?
Where's the best place to stand?
Wo steht man am besten?
Throw us some sweets!
Kamelle!
Practice these words
Als was gehst du?
Als was? In German you dress up als something: als Hexe, als Clown, als Astronaut. No article needed.
Living With the Fifth Season
- Ties at Weiberfastnacht. In the Rhineland, don't wear your favourite tie to work on that Thursday. Colleagues will cut it off with scissors, and a kiss on the cheek is the "thank you".
- Rosenmontag isn't a public holiday, but in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz many offices, shops and schools close anyway. Ask your employer what's normal; more on German work culture.
- Kita and school: across Germany, Kitas and primary schools hold a costume day, the Faschingsfeier or Karnevalsfeier, often on the Thursday or the Tuesday. A notice on the Kita door will tell you when.
- Getting around: city centres close for the parades, buses take diversions, and some cities ban glass bottles in the party zones.
- Not your thing? Plenty of Rhinelanders take a week off and go skiing. Nobody is forced to celebrate.