HELAU and Goodbye!

 

There was no more festive way we could have possibly spent our last week in Germany last month. After three years and almost four months living abroad, the raucous atmosphere of Fasching seemed to be the most fitting way for us to bid farewell to life abroad. And, as celebrations ended and made way for the somber season of Lent, so too ended our international adventures (for now!) as we transitioned back to life in the United States.

In case you need a refresher, Fasching is the German equivalent of Mardi Gras or Carnival. The very air is charged with excitement, music and Schnapps during the main Fasching period, which spans from the Thursday (the ladies’ day of Fasching) to the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Oddly, the main day is Monday, known as Rosenmontag.

As we’ve been fortunate enough to live in one of the two rival German Fasching capitals, we dressed up in animal onesies along with fest-goers of all ages to watch hours and hours of the parade that boldly snakes its way throughout Mainz on Rosenmontag to shouts of “Helau!” (the Fasching greeting). This was, of course, after several days of smaller warm-up parades in neighboring areas of Wiesbaden.

Parade groups and floats represented local businesses, hobby clubs, marching bands, giant heads, clowns, Swiss Güggemusik (brass bands with elaborate costumes and airbrushed facepaint), Austrian/Bavarian witches, social commentary, and political satire. As you can imagine, the last of these was brutal this year, mocking Olympic doping, American president Trump, Turkish president Erdogan, Brexit, EU leadership, and more.

Trumps & crying Statue of Liberty

Mocking Erdogan

Construction criticism in Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden Jokus band

Conservative politician Petry

Apple wine pitcher from Hessen

After-parade party in Wiesbaden

Parade spectators in Mainz

Pretzel guys on the parade route

(dialect) “The Cathedral belongs to Mainz like Fasenacht, rolls, sausage, & wine”

Classic Mainz foods

Fasching-colored unicycle

Parade toward ferris wheel

Prime Minister May flips off the EU

Fasching marching band

“Trump-le” (trample) animal

Trump tramples America

Traditional Bavarian or Austrian witches

Puss in Boots band

Erdogan madness

Erdogan runs over democracy, freedoms of the press & expression

Martin Luther against CO2 emissions

Stop CO2 emissions over the Mainz Dom

Apple-ution

Colorful umbrellas & scarves

Croatian folk group

Sister cities Mainz & Zagreb

Clowns on parade

Horns & furs

Mainz 05 soccer team float

Skies darken on Rosenmontag

Merkel driving the EU

Pretzel float

Financial corruption

Witches on parade

Jokus band in Mainz

Swiss Güggemusik band

Olympic top (shot) sports

Animal float

Mainz characters

Local witches

Sunflowers

Clown car

Star Wars characters

Silver Güggemusik band

Jesters

Butchers’ Guild

Emperor’s money laundering

Garden gnome float

Money trap

Swiss band from Basel

Mainz Carnival Club

Giant heads

Last head in the parade

Gutenberg in fool’s cap

Post-parade festivities in Mainz

Mainz Dom

Every night of the fest was a costume party in Mainz as well. We went out several times to eat Bratwurst and wander through the carnival rides and stands in the old town. One night the cover band we were listening to started playing a familiar tune that turned out to be the theme song from the 80s cartoon show Duck Tales! This turned into a medley of theme songs from similar kids’ tv shows Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers (known in Germany as Chip and Chap) and Gummy Bears. The last one got a lot of Germans singing along. After all Haribo, the main producer of gummy bear candies, is German.

Helau from Fasching in Mainz and for now, goodbye to Germany!

Many more details on Fasching can be found here:
What is Fasching All About?
11/11 at 11:11
Fasching Costumes on Parade
Into the Fifth Season

Fasching Costumes on Parade

The Christmas Markets are closed, all the dust has settled from New Year’s fireworks, and that means it’s time to gear up for Fasching!

As you may remember, the German Karneval season (aka The Fifth Season) has long been underway. It began back in November on 11/11 at 11:11.

But with other holidays out of the way and nothing in store but cold, dark winter days between now and Ash Wednesday, it’s time to start thinking about costumes. In Mainz, Kӧln and other areas of Germany that celebrate Fasching (it’s not everywhere!), people of all ages wear costumes to march in or watch the colorful parades.

Here are some of your options:

1) It’s a fool’s holiday: Dress like a fool. Clowns and fools, or simply silly hats, are the most popular costumes along the Rhein. Even the Gutenberg statue in Mainz gets a fool’s cap for the occasion.

 

2) Dress like it’s Halloween: pirate, hippie, fire fighter, etc. To an American like me, this is a little tired, but there are plenty of people-characters from all walks of life whose shoes you can step into for a day.

 

 

3) *My personal recommendation*: Dress like an animal. Animals are the second most popular costume category after fools. As it was pointed out to me when we first arrived, the zip-up animal onesies are not only cute but practical as well. You’re going to wear the costume outside in winter, shouting “Helau!” (or “Alaaf!”, region-dependent) for hours, so this type of costume is warm and loose-fitting enough to go over a coat and/or a lot of layers.

 

4) Gear up in Fasching banner swag. This is what I like to do for the first day of festivities, and this year I’m adding fingerless gloves and a hat to my scarf and legwarmers. All the gear is striped red, white, blue and yellow. Necklaces or buttons with “Weck, Worscht & Woi” (Mainz dialect for rolls, sausage, and wine), the duck float that ends the parade, and Fasching greeting “Helau!” are also common.

 

5) Make your own costume. If you’re really artsy or daring and have a lot of time on your hands, bolts of fabric and bric-a-brac are available in costume stores or regular department stores as well. Who knows what you’ll come up with!

 

To read about how Fasching costumes differ dramatically outside of the Rhein region, see The Soundtrack of Salzburg.

Until late February, Helau!

Even Mainz bakeries gear up for Fasching