COLOGNE CARNIVAL 🤡🇩🇪 We Went to One of the Biggest Celebrations in All of Germany!
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- čas přidán 11. 03. 2023
- We got to experience Carnival in Cologne, Germany for their 200th anniversary and it was EPIC! We had such a incredible time and learned more about the people of Cologne, their traditions, food and local dialect. Here we share with you the history and rich traditions that surround this centuries-old celebration, and our own personal experience.
Carnival in Cologne is famous for its colorful and elaborate costumes, satirical floats, and musical events. People from all walks of life come together to dance, sing, and enjoy the festivities, creating a vibrant and inclusive atmosphere. The city’s streets come alive with music, laughter, and revelry, and the air is filled with the scent of traditional carnival foods such as Reibekuchen (potato pancakes), beer and Glühwein (mulled wine).
#karneval #köln #colognegermany #carnivalseason #alaaf
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Hi everyone! I made a mistake in the video with the St. Maria I'm Kapitol church - it's not a Roman church. Here is the correct info - St. Maria im Kapitol (St. Mary's in the Capitol) is an 11th-century Romanesque church located in the Kapitol-Viertel in the old town of Cologne, Germany. The name “im Kapitol“ refers to the Roman temple for the Capitoline Triad that was built on today’s site of the church in the first century. The Catholic church is based on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, was dedicated to St. Mary and built between 1040 and 1065.[1] It is one of twelve Romanesque churches built in Cologne during this period.
to me it looked roman as well, I guess anyone who has not studied building styles of the centuries can hardly tell the difference just by looking at it.
Es freut mich zu sehen, dass Sie alle eine angenehme Zeit in Köln hatten, und dass Sie Spaß am Karneval hatten. Wenn Sie mal wieder nach Köln kommen sollten, schauen Sie sich doch mal die Kirche Sankt Gereon an. Dieser Bau vereint spätantike, römische Elemente und mittelalterliche, romanische und frühgotische Teile. Insgesamt sehr imposant und beeindruckend. Abgesehen von den wiederhergestellten Kirchen gibt es in der Innenstadt von Köln ja wegen der starken Bombardierungen kaum Bauten aus alter Zeit. In den Vorstädten, z.B. Nippes oder Ehrenfeld findet sich noch viel Köln des 19. Jahrhunderts. Ich freue mich immer wieder Ihre Beiträge hier zu sehen und bin beeindruckt von Ihrem Einsatz Ihre "neue Heimat" besser kennenzulernen.
That was an obvious mistake about the Church... but understandable. The Roman Era in Nord-western Europe came to an end around 475 - 500 AD when the Westeern Roman Empire collapsed. The buildingstyle the Romans used had a revival around the 10th to 12th Century.. called Romanesque.
Good to see you had a great time in Köln..
BTW. I don't know if others already noticed, the "Alaaf" isn't uniquely from Köln (or Germany), it's a greeting also used on the occasion of Carnival in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Thanks for doing a video about Karneval in Köln! As a native Rheinländer now living in Oregon, it’s nice to get a little bit of a Karneval fix this way. But I’m also always surprised how few Americans have heard about Carneval in Germany. Since one of the main prejudices about Germans is that they don’t have fun or a sense of humor, people are always surprised when I tell them that Cologne basically closes down for 6 days and people celebrate and party around the clock during that time! Why is it thatevery American has heard about Oktoberfest, but nobody has heard about Carneval?
Yeah I’m not sure why Oktoberfest is more famous. I did find out that about 6 million people attend Oktoberfest and it’s more like 1-2 million for Carnival, so maybe that’s why? But since Carnival is celebrated all over Germany, just with different names, you’d think Americans still would know about it. Maybe our video can spread the word to more Americans!
Simple explanation - the allies in Germany had different parts of Germany where they were located. American soldiers were mainly located in the south of Germany except for a few in Münster/NRW, Bremen+Bremerhaven and Berlin. Karneval is centered in Mainz, that was occupied by France and in the Rhineland (Köln + Düsseldorf) which was occupied by the British. Because of that most American soldiers that returned home after WW2 had the stereotype of a Bavarian in Dirndl and Lederhos'n when they talked about Germany not realizing that they only saw a small part of Germany. Add to that that the south had more rural population where doing your work was more important than fun to live after the war lead to the other stereotype of Germans being serious. There is not much fun if you have to suffer to get your food. And because most Americans do not hit the road and visit other countries that stereotype stayed until today. It's like putting all Americans in the stereotype of the Cowboy you know from the books of Karl May.
@@seanthiarthe US was also located in Frankfurt and all of Hessen and they celebrate Carnival (or Fasching what they call it) a lot. I was born in Frankfurt and remember that a lot of GIs roaming the streets, one of my uncles is a formed GI who stayed in Germany and married my Aunt - so in this area they could get a lot of contact with carnival celebrating locals.
@@Moleman0815 Although I come from the middle of Frankfurt - Fulda originally I'm currently working on projects in Fulda, otherwise I'd probably neither have noticed that Fulda has the biggest carnival in Hesse (bigger than Frankfurt and others) but also that 'Fulda Gap' was assumed the most probable breakthrough point for the USSR tanks in case of a new (no more cold) war. So, overall there were multiple dozens of American barrack buildings here (now being part of university, public projects, social apartments and similar), and e.g. on CZcams you can see that even the cheapest KB-effect image-switching-videos with just some music in the background get tens of thousands of views and comments from veterans with former presence in Fulda. So yes, there are definitely plenty of U.S. Americans who know more than Bavaria and its culture....
Wie jetzt?? Aus dem Rheinland gefluechtet In die USA?? Ich komme aus Duesseldorf, wohne jetzt in der Pfalz, mir brachte dieses Video auch viele Erinnerungen zurück
The Rosemonday parade has a distance of about 7 km, the parade itself of about 8 km. That means if the first one is in front of the finish line, the end still hasn't started. More than 12,000 people take part in the procession, including 1,500 people in dance groups, 2,600 musicians in 76 bands, 4,000 helpers and 3,200 foot groups. around 200 wagons and carriages are there, 300 tons of sweets are thrown, including 700,000 chocolate bars and 220,000 boxes of pralines, 300,000 little bouquets of flowers. The throwing material is paid for by the participants themselves and is not actually taken over by the clubs. Sometimes there are things from sponsors, but it's not a lot. The migration route is about 7km long and the parade about 8km. When the first group crosses the finish line, the last one hasn't even started. Depending on where you are, it can happen that you are on the road for 12 hours or more. Around 1.5 million people line the migration route every year. From Weiberfastnacht (Thursday before Shrove Monday) to Veilchentuestag (Tuesday after Shrove Monday) there are a total of around 70-80 smaller parades in the districts. I hope I was able to inform you about our customs and greetings from Cologne.
Kölle Alaaf! I lived near Kölln by a local family for around 2 month to visit German language school. I had an opportunity to experience the Carnival with another short stay. They have very distinctive culture and dialect. The folks are very kind and have warm heart. Thank you for the video which brought me back to the time, quite long long time ago!! "Dat wor jode ahle Zick!" 🙂
haha
Es freut mich immer, wie Ihr Euren Kindern die neue Heimat mit all seinen Festen und Veranstaltungen näherbringt! Liebe Grüße vom Simssee (Lkr. Rosenheim)
Hallo Claus 🙋♂, lieber Vanessa B. Follower ( und VB-Uhren-Besitzer 😉😊). Du bist auch hier zu finden ? Das freut mich !
Ist aber auch kein Wunder. So einem fantastischen Kanal zu folgen (mache ich nun schon seit genau 2 Jahren sehr intensiv) , macht einfach Spaß, erweitert meine Sichtweisen und hilft mir dabei, daß meine Englisch-Kenntnisse nicht verkümmern. LG in den Chiemgau ! Klaus Z.
It was an amazing time, so much fun, even though I had to leave early. I can't wait for another adventure with you all! 🥰
So glad you joined us! It was so much fun!!
Grayson and the sponges! 😃😅🙈 Loved it! So funny 😃
He made us laugh, too! 🧽 SPONGES!!
Schön, dass es Euch in meiner Heimatstadt gefallen hat😉. Weiterhin viel Spaß in Deutschland und noch viele schöne Eindrücke.
A late "Kölle Alaaf" to her Princess Sara and King Kevin from the Chiemgau Kingdom 😉😊 !
Well presented, your impressions of carnival in cologne. I appreciate your video and your informations about the history of this famous event. Thank you so much.
Thanks so much, Klaus! 😄
Hello from a German in Australia! I'm actually from Cologne and loved to see my hometown on your video. Glad you enjoy your time over there and wishing you all the best!
My ancestors came from cologne. Beautiful city.
Very good description
Thank you! ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful costumes!!!! Happy for you all.
Dankeschön!
Your son is so comical, it looks like a lot of fun. We hope to visit Germany one day, my husband was stationed there and he always tells me how beautiful it is, thank you for posting😊
You should have visited Germany before 2015. Now Germany has abolished itself through politics and migrants
Das war lustig, danke für den schönen Film!❤️
Dankeschön!
Soo cool you guys had fun on the Karneval
Im glad you are really enjoying yourself, this video put many a smiles on my face. Also your children are so adorable :D
We all had so much fun!
It is so great to see how you you experienced Karneval! Growing up near to Cologne i love to see how much fun you had! A lot of people thinks that Karneval is just drinking beer and get drunk. It is absolutely NOT about that. It is about being together, meet new people from all over the world and celebrate the life at this exact moment!
Yeah we could really see how it’s so much more than getting drunk. We saw so many local groups hanging out together and having events in hotel ballrooms. I can see how it’s a really big deal when you’re part of a Verein or school that participates in the parade. A source of pride for your history and where you live.
I see your children start speaking perfect German, This is wonderful. All my children speak at least 4 languages. Its a nice advantage and the world stands open.
Wow, 4 languages! Amazing!
This video is a truly underrated video about karneval in cologne and generally about cologne itself. LOVE IT. Grüße aus Köln!
Thank you so much! I did a lot of research for it. I appreciate your kind words!
I'm glad you had a great time in my home town!
We really did! It was amazing!
Great video and great costumes! Glad you are back! 👍😊😎
Thank you!
Eure Kostüme sind wirklich super😃ihr sehr super aus🥳
nice! one important beer note: „Kölsch“ is a beer style while „Früh“ is just a brewery that mostly makes „Kölsch“-style beer. so it’s a Früh Kölsch. but there are many other Kölsch breweries: Reisdorf, Gaffel, Sion, Päffgen, …
Ahhh okay! Thanks for clearing that up. I thought Kölsch was a brewery because I see it written on the glasses.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife you are welcome! I get it’s confusing, but Cologne is one of the few cities that have their own beer style :).
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Kölsch is also some kind of a trademark. You can only name your beer Kölsch if it is brewed in Cologne directly or the nearest surrounding area and it's also a protected regional speciality by EU law. The Sünner brewery was the first brewery to brew Kölsch in 1906. Yes we take our Kölsch very serious. :D
But Früh is the best
Mühlen Kölsch is the best.
Yes, the Rhine Valley, a very special part of Germany. Good to see that you liked being here. Very different to Bavaria ... And the rest of the country.
We love the Rhine region of Germany. We used to live in Metz, France and would go to Burg Eltz a few times.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife No surprise! :) Rhine, Eifel, Mosel, lLahn, Lorraine are just great. Esp. being close to France,Belgium,Luxemburg andt he Netherlands is nice, we go on weekend trips to the Champagne frequently. Not that I wouldn't like Bavaria, I Lived and worked there for years... but the people there are different
Bavaria had once a colony at the Rhine
Hello from my hometown Cologne. Greetings to Bavaria.
Ein toller Film wie immer, richtig professional 👍. Es freut mich sehr wenn ihr eure neue Wahlheimat als positiv empfindet. Ihr seid so nice und ihr seid sehr willkommen 😍. Und das mit den Toiletten in den IC´s, das ist oft eine unschöne Erfahrung 🤢, aber es gibt nun mal Saubären auf der Welt... überall 🤮.
Ich freu mich auf euer nächstes Video. See u soon hopefully 🥰
New subscriber coming over from Feli's channel. Time to binge watch your great content as trip to Germany planned for 3 weeks this August, mostly in Bavaria too. Looking forward to spring!
Very cool! You'll love it!
Great and entertaining Video! :)
ofc they are throwing more candy in the veedelszug then the big rosenmontagszug.keep in mind,its more then 7 kilometers long and packed on both sides with over 1 million people,they need to have something for everyone.for me,when i was young,iallways stood close to the end,when they throw out all they have left :)
A beautiful moment when Kevin is very moved by the sound in the Cologne Cathedral.
That was so nice - fun to watch 👸
Glad you enjoyed it, Arno!
Du bist auch überall 😅 🙏🏻
@@CavHDeu Wie du auch 😉🤣
@@arnodobler1096 immer da wo guter Content ist 🫡
@@CavHDeu und nette Leute sind
First of all - I really like your costumes and second : You are very brave travelling to Cologne for the 5th season - I live in the area and we travel away during theses days 🤣🤣🤣 Like your open minded attitude. 👍👍👍
You described the Kölner Karneval so well!!!❤ Btw you looked awesome!!!!!😂 Edit: you were totally right not to say "Helau" in Cologne (always "Alaaf", please!) Eventually they would have been killed you (fun!) otherwise!!!😂 In other regions (in Hagen f.e.) you can yell "Helau", but never never in Cologne. That's a serious thing!!!! I really loved your footage and the explanations seen through the eye of a non- native. Great job!!! Thanks a lot, you made my day! 😊
Thanks for a fun video of Karnival. I will get to spend a day in Koln next month while I am visiting friends who live in Essen and yes, I will see the Dom and drink some Gaffel Kolsch which I also buy at my local store at home in Newport. Our local fest and parade is St. Patrick's day which can be lots of fun when it isnt raining.
Not sure if you have already done your day visit but I would highly recommend to also give "Schreckenskammer" Kölsch a try. An old local Kölsch that only recently started to sell some bottles locally but predominantly still sells in their own house which used to be the last beer given to convicts before their execution.
In my opinion it's the best Kölsch. Otherwise Mühlen Kölsch from the tap or Reissdorf if it is bottled are imo the best.
Grayson :) This is your future self talking to you. As soon as you head of to university and have your first apartment you will be happy to have enough sponges :D 20 Sponges you wont have to buy equal a beer ;) Or 100 Sponges a Döner Kebap Date with someone you like. Remember these words :D Great Video guys
Hahaha love this!
Vicariously sharing your enjoyment. Great video, Hope everyone is healthy again.
Re the mess left after, it's probably because people attending know there will be a major clean up afterwards, that they don't care when they litter, and when drunk, the inhibitions are lowered anyway. There's also a lot of mess left after marathons too.
Hi Connie! Yeah drunk people can be very messy! Griffin was sick another week the flu and then Gabriel got the flu and an ear infection for the next two weeks! He is now better, finally. 😅
❤❤❤
My home town 🎉🎉🎉
Imagine having this every year ❤
How was it having it every year?
I hope CZcams translates this because I can’t remember every word 😂🤪
Es ist absolut fantastisch!
Wenn man so aufwächst, mit dem Gefühl des Zusammenseins, zu feiern, Kamelle natürlich (Kölsches Wort für Bonbons 😂), sich verkleiden können beziehungsweise für ein paar Tage verrückt zu sein ohne seltsam angesehen zu werden, sich verkleiden können, als das, was man gerne wäre oder was man toll findet
Es ist einfach nur super
Die letzten 2 Jahre sind leider keine Karnevalszüge gelaufen, wegen Corona, deswegen war dieses Jahr noch einmal mehr besonders ❤️🙏
Karneval ist einfach die tollste „Jahreszeit“ 😄
(Wir hoffen nur immer noch, dass es doch irgendwann in den Sommer verlegt wird, so muss man nicht ständig eine Nummer größer in den Kostümen kaufen, damit noch eine Jacke drunter passt etc)
Not a Jeck, but love the Cologne Cathedral. In particular the bell, the "Dicker Pitter". It is impressive. Hearing it ringing gives me goosebumps.
Your video was so so fun to watch Sara, thank you so much for sharing! I honestly can't believe how much candy the children got, that's crazy. The amount of trash really always shocks me. I studied in Köln for a semester before I changed to Düsseldorf University and was once in the city on November 12th so a day after the Karneval season begins - it was a really nightmare and shock to see all the trash in person and the entire city stank of Schnapps too (because of all the empty Schnapps bottles lying around). It was quite off-putting to be fair. But Jörg and I love Köln as a city, it's really charming, we visited often as it's so close to Düsseldorf.
Hi dear friend! Yeah the trash afterwards is quite shocking! But they did clean it up quickly, I must say. Yeah the kids got SO much candy!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I forgot to say how much I loved your costumes!
I was born in Cologe and still live here. I love to see how strangers experience my home town. And for my very first time I saw the church St. Maria im Kapitol (I even didn't know the name yet) from inside because I never visited it. Shame on me... But thanks!
The hugh amount of trash is indeed a negative aspect of Karneval but luckily all of it is removed by the public garbage collection within a few days.
Hope you come back to Köln soon. There's much more to see here than the cathedral and Karneval. You missed the Cologne Triangle with the best view on the city and many other stuff. But I would recommend to come in spring or summer because then you have the bist vibe in the city.
We wanted to also visit the chocolate museum but it was closed for Karneval while we were there. But we walked all over the city and really enjoyed it. Children don’t like city tours so Kevin and I sneak out while they watch a movie in the hotel to see things. We’d love to see more but it’s just not possible with children yet…one day!
Very interesting to see Karneval through your eyes. I (as a German) has never been to Cologne during Karneval. It is a great city and the Dom is amazing. Good, that you "made" your children visit it. They will always remember it. Sometimes you have to "make" them do things :), which they will appreciate later on in life. Oh and, I was surprised by the amount of candy they throw out these days. It nearly compensates your train tickets.
Yeah there are some things in our travels we “make” our kids do. I was so glad we showed them the cathedral since they got to hear the incredible music. They loved listening to it!
I was born in Frankfurt and hated carnival (or Fasching) my whole live, but after i moved to Cologne i started celebrating it with local friends and now i love it. You can get a ton of fun if you avoid certain areas like the Zülpicher Strasse. There are some hotspots that are mostly visited by those young binge drinking I*iots which could ruin your days, but if you go to the smaller bars in the more quiet districs you can celebrate with the locals which is a ton of fun. So if you ever happen to visit Cologne during Carnival thy this and experience the true Karneval. :)
Welcome to Köllefornia ❤️
Love it!
Kölle Alaaf! 🥳 I was waiting for this for sooo long 😍😍😍Welcome to my hometown! ❤️😍 I am sure you also heard "Strüssje"💐 a lot which means "flowers".
I love that Gracen caught sponges 🤣 That's a child's dream 😉 And the sun looked a bit like french fries 😅I agree!
If you would like to experience it again, you are invited to stay with us anytime and we are happy to show you our favorite places in 2024🥳
Oh really! So you’re gonna move back to Cologne? That would be so fun to experience it again but with another family that has kids. I’m not sure, we will see if the kids want to go back.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Yes, we only have a few months left 😢 and we are already starting to prepare for the big move. Honestly, I am a bit nervous, because I think we might experience a reverse culture shock 😅 But of course, we are also excited to be closer to family and friends again...
their kids are genuinely so funny it's heartwarming!
Great video. I could not make it "home" this year and to sing my carneval song here in Berlin just to myself ;-) I grew up in Bonn so not that far away and we basically have the same culture, dialect, beer and dishes... and Cologne is just a 20 mintes ride from Bonn, so actually you take advantage of the closeness. As neither my parents nor i was born in that aerea, i do not really know the dialect but i can tell that after being teached all the most important carneval songs Carneval really grew on me. Music is the key. The lyrics are very funny or even really heartfelt and emotional, especially when praising the city spirit. rightly so. Only one thing i might have misunderstood: romanic style churches were not built by the romans.... the roman empire collaps centuries earlier and after that Cologne was part Karolinger, Merowinger and Frankonian empire.. so when the romanic churches were erected, the Romans were history. Though there are Roman sites still to be found in Cologne. But I think no churches. But maybe i did not listen good enough..
Ohh, next time in Cologne you must go to the Roman Germanic history museum….super interesting for kids….went there on several school trips and loved it
That does sound good! All the museums were closed while we were there so we couldn’t even visit the chocolate museum.
Love your video, participated in the Monday parade, but walked on the other side of one of the floats.
The trash is always a problem altough it got a lot better in the last years. The trash you noticed collects mainly underneath the stands within several days. It can often only be removed after the stands are taken down.
In the Monday parade there were over 75 groups. It took so long because they used a new route that was never tried before. Plus it was the 200 year celebration, so it got really! crowded in some parts...
Wann kommt ihr mal nach Berlin?
Ich könnte euch hier viele tolle Plätze zeigen, eine tolle Kombination aus unbekannten und bekannten Sehenswürdigkeiten und viel Natur mitten in der Stadt. :)
Liebe Grüße!!!
Your children are so cute! 😍🤣
Thank you so much!
"Full size chocolate bar. Can you imagine this flying towards your head"
Yupp, happened to me in 2017 at the Rosenmontagszoch. It was Toffifee but still knocked me out for a few seconds😅
Yes! Flying candy and giant chocolate bars! It was wild.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I once got hit by a beer bottle that was dropped from a float
omg🎉🎉🎉 I have not seen so many serious Germans having no fun, do not make jokes, always dressed correctly, never celebrate or partying in one place ever 😂😂😂😂
❤ that you enjoyed it!
Warning it is quite addictive
Yeah it didn’t feel like we were in Germany anymore! 😂🤪😉
The Zöch on Sunday actually had around 90 groups 😊 I participated but unfortunately couldn’t spot you. Great you had a blast 😊😊
It would’ve been fun to see you! Okay good to know there were around 90 groups. I think we read in an article that it was 44 or something.
Jup, you can get some pretty fun things instead of candy in carneval parades. In one of our local carneval parades, from a former village that was absorbed by trhe city, they throw all vegetables you need for a good soup. They throw things like leek, onions, potatoes, carrots and celery root. Tradition is to make a parade soup out of your catches afterwards
Hello, I´m new on your channel and I will follow you, because I hope, you show your american friends, that Germany isn´t only the living style (and costumes 😁) of Bavaria. Germany has a lot of other beautiful landscapes and peoples. 😉😊 Greetings from Lower Saxony.
Oh, my hometown.
The groups that you subtitled with "another Krampuslauf" are from the schwäbisch-alemannischen Fasnscht. As the name hints it's celebrated mostly in the south-west of Germany. Most of the Groups (Zünfte) there wear wooden handcarved maks and the costumes (Häs) are often handpainted (Weisnarren) or made of hundreds pieces of cloth (Fleckle). It's a little different to Karneval at Cologne, maybe a bit darker in some of it's rites, but also very nice to see. Known events during schwäbisch-alemannische Fasnacht are for example the Narrensprung at Rottweil, the Schuttigmarsch in Elzach or the Da-Bach-na-fahre in Schramberg. There are also many parades during Fasnacht, but not as big as in cologne. Anyhow it's also worth a visit for a different experience of the fünfte Jahreszeit.
Danke! Genau darauf wollte ich auch hinweisen (: Try to come to the schwäbisch-allemannische Fasnet next year! Especially the Schuttig in Elzach.... there is really so much to explore in the south... It really is different (:
One may should add, that both tradition lines do thrive from the same medieval and early-modern roots, and Colognes Carneval very much looked the same like Schwäbisch-Allemannische Fasnet and vice versa up until the late 18th century. Even more there has been a time not too long ago, when the 'newer' firm of modern "Rheinische Carneval" like You've seen it in Cologne, almost wiped out the older (and then old fashioned thought) Schwäbisch-Allemannische #Fasnet, which 'survived' as a relict only in very few communities in the German Southwest (like in Rottenburg or Schömberg) at the beginning of the 20th century and had to be 'restored' and 'reintroduced' with quite some effort in most other places again from the 1920s on - which also explains why there are still groups dedicated to the 'Rheinische' Form of Carnival in the German Southwest today and most Schwäbisch-Allemannische Narrenzünfte were founded much later, compared to their Cologne counterpart, albeit their firm of Carnival-practicing resembles more the older medieval form. So why there are then some definitely Schwäbisch-Allemannische groups in the Cologne Rosenmintagszug? Well, they are 'shipped' in as additional attraction and by befriended Cologne groups, who themselves sometimes do participate in Southwestern Carnival festivities, both done as a Symbol of unity and common traditions, but also out of cherish for and tribute to the hughe variety of regional (Carnival) traditions and nonetheless the many people from South Western or Rheinland descent living in both regions. It's a bit like Inner-German courtesy and "Carneval diplomacy" between regions, who both have and had very destinct regional history and traditions and whose citizens aren't always so fond of and kind to each other.
Please don’t forget Villingen.
Thank you so much for this comment !
I was so surprised when I saw the Hansele, Moosmulle and the Hölzlekönig from my hometown
So many great explanations that the only thing to add is ‚e glückselige Fasnet‘ an a hearty Narri Narro! There are some meet-ups of Zünfte after January 6, when Fasnet begins in the south west. If you check out those, there are groups from all over and there usually is a great atmosphere.
You obviously had a lot of fun in Köln! I think I was never there on the Rosenmontag. I live only 80km away from Köln. Wäre schön Euch mal zu treffen oder in Bayern zu besuchen. Ihr wohnt ja in einer tollen Gegend! Viele Grüße aus dem Westerwald (a low mountain range near Koblenz and Bonn).
Yeah it was so much fun!
The Cologne Cathedral is the largest church, while the church in Ulm has the tallest church tower. Your videos are very interesting.
There are different groups from other cities and regions invited every year to participate in the Rosenmontagszug. That is why you saw these traditional southern carnival group. 😊✌
Not only from other cities and regions. There are always international participants like from the UK or the Netherlands.
Very cool!
Tolle Sachen geworfen!
Wow, now I want to see an arts and crafts video, hosted by Grayson, where everything is made with/out of sponges.
😂😂 that would be so funny!
It was funny watching cologne through your eyes... as I have been living there for almost 10 years. ^^
Once I even had the chance to be part of the parade on sunday and throw the candy, as a pirate 😁😀
This year the parade was delayed several times so it took over 6 hours until the last group could be seen and because we were standing more along the end of the way it was dark for the last ~hour 🤣
For the first time a very few groups had bio-degradable packaging for the kamelle. It was only a minority, but its a start 😉
Yeah that’s a start! That’s so cool that you’ve been part of the parade before! I think it would be fun, though tiring.
I'm american, but live in Germany. Some of these Veedel Züge are huge....
So once I was in Chicago for St Patricks Day, and went down to Millenium Park to see the St Patricks day parade....anticipating that Ferris Bueller parade scene....and knowing German carnival parades, small, medium and large.
For a city that dyes the river - that parade was so underwhelming. They do need some of these Carnival people over there showing them how it is done....
Tolles Video!Köln hat ein historisches Erbe!❤️
Ich finde es interessant, dass Amerikaner immer Könige und Königinnen sein wollen...🤔
Yeah I guess, we are fascinated by royalty and castles because we've never experienced them in our own culture, like all Europeans have.
Klingt vernünftig
Kölle Alaaf, Alaaf, Kamelle und Strüßjer (if you want a flower) are THE words.
This was a very fun video to watch you really experience "Rheinischer Karneval" for the first time. It is something else. I'm from a region where Karneval (or as we call it Fastnacht) is taken seriously and even for me the Rheinischer Karneval has always been next level of madness.
And I don't want to sound nitpicky but the text "which was built in 1100 by the Romans" is ridiculous. The (West) Roman Empire was long gone by then, but it is built in the Romanesque style, which we call "Romanik".
I wanted to correct that one, too. No longer any Romans in sight at that time in Cologne. Still, you would call the architectural period "romanisch" (romanesque style), when later it became "gotisch" (gothic style). Not to be confused with "römisch" (roman, antique style)
@@dorisschneider-coutandin9965 Yeah that was a mistake.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife No worries. Things like that easily happen. 😉
Hey there i realy loved your Video, but yeah there is a but ;-) about the Beer in Cologne you normaly drink "Kölsch" Kölsch is the Type of Beer. Früh, Gaffel, Reissdorf etc. are the Brands. The hughe Carnival Parades in the big Citys are allways on Rosenmontag means Rose Monday. Actual Carnival Seasson which is also heavy crowded you got it correct starts at 11.11 at 11:11 am each year. The hughest Parades are in Düsseldorf, Cologne and Mainz. Aachen has also a bigger one but not over the verry looooooong hours than the other mentioned Citys. and your favorite school Theme Wagon with bees it´s a Theme about the Series from Germany called "Biene Maja". It´s a very cute Series for Kids. Many Theme´s are about Politics. I hope i could give you a bit more info. 🙂
On Veilchendienstag there are more Carnival Parades in Mönchengladbach,Aachen,Krefeld,Neuss,Bonn,Koblenz
I like your costumes
Thank you! We got many compliments on them.
Veedel = Viertel (quarter), pronounced with an F sound at the beginning and the e is pronounced like in get. :) I watched the parade in lokal TV where it was broadcasted, but I couldn't see you :D
Thanks for sharing about the Veedel - I wasn't sure what it meant. Too bad we weren't on TV, but I guess, we are now, in a way!
If you ever got hit in the face by a bar of chocolate, that has been thrown with some lack of precision, you will appreciate sponges.
1.5 million people watching the Rosenmontagszug is even more impressive considering that Cologne has about 1.0 inhabitants. That means that once in a year there is a massive stress-test for the whole infrastrcture. But, as the locals say: "Et hätt noh immer joot jejange!" (it has always come to a good end).
I'm glad you mentioned how many people live in Cologne as I hadn't looked that up . So yeah, once a year, the city doubles! That is a huge stress on the infrastructure. I must say that the city did a fantastic job keeping up with all of the craziness. It was very well organized and planned out.
Do they ever throw sachets of cologne?
Ah looks like you had a lot of fun in Cologne. Yeah it is really a big event and yeah the trash going with it is 'normal' for Cologne and other cities with big carnival parades. I can't really see how you could make it more environment friendly without removing the part of throwing candy and flowers (Strüßje as we call them here in Cologne) into the crowd. You really can't throw unpackaged candy, can you? And removing that aspect would make the children really sad i am sure.
What i wanted to mention also is that every district of the City also has their own local parade. They usually take place spread out across all the days from Friday to Tuesday with the exception of Monday. Most take place on Sunday and Tuesday. I actually took part in such a local parade as a schoolkid once. It was organized by the school so they provided the costume. I also had a small bag of candy to throw. That definitely was an experience. I must have been in 5th or 6th grade not exactly sure anymore. I have to point out one mistake in the video as any German can't leave such things alone without losing his citizenship (do i really have to point out that as a joke?): The Cologne Cathedral was finished in 1880 (though as everyone in Cologne knows that it will never be finished really 🙂). The building process was restarted in 1823 not 1880.
Ah okay, good to know. I got that information from a few different websites, so they have it wrong? Yeah it's funny how Germans have to correct every detail. To Americans, this just isn't as big of a deal. Different cultures. :)
Well, you ask for locals to react on the trash on Heumarkt. So, here I am to react. In fact, it is all collected and brought to sorting plants where they separate it into glass (to be recycled), plastics (to be recycled), biomass (to be composted or aerobically digested), metals (to be recycled), and finally dirt (to be incinerated). So actually, Karneval in Kölle am Rhing is quite okay from a trash and climate point of view. Assuming that all visitors and tourists use the train to come here, of course... ;-)
That’s good to know! Compared to the USA, Germany is going an amazing job with recycling. I’m sure there’s always room for improvement, but we are quite impressed.
If you liked the carnival there you should do a trip to Italy next year
Yes!! Venetian Carnivale!
Früh is a kind of Kölsch ^^
Just like with Christian from Trier, I once suggested (I think it might have been around the time of your first Christmas in Germany) to give you folks a guided tour around Frankfurt on the Main, whenever you want to visit. I sadly wasn't approached for it since. 🤥
Hi Doris! Oh I’m sorry, we’ve gotten many requests for city tours from many kind people. The reason we chose Christian is because we decided first that we wanted to see Trier, while we were near Burg Eltz. 😀 And he was one of the first that said he could show us around.
Schönes Video:) ich bin in Köln geboren:)
Just a little fun fact (I don't know, if you already knew):
"Haribo" ist short for "Hans Riegel Bonn" - the name of the founder and the city the company was foundet. Since Bonn is a close to Köln is a sure thing you get Haribo there.
I wonder why there isn't a Haribo Park somewhere like Lego Park or the Playmobil Park (which is great 😃)
@@elisabethlemoigne5710 That would be amazing! Kids would love it!
@@dirkspatz3692 there is also a big Haribo store in the Centro Shopping mall in Oberhausen
You met your German friend for life!
Oh right! 😍
I sure hope so. 😍
Carnival sounds like the German version of Marti Gras, which is celebrated in New Orleans.
"Scary" costumes are more a thing in the Southern carnival ("Fasnet" etc.) around Alamannia (Alemannia), a historic region in southwest Germany and northern Switzerland. Those festivals and regional events, often more or less around the "official" carnival, are to cast out the winter. No idea why winter should be scared, but well, it's fun anyway.. ^^
Yes! We learned about those traditions when we studied the origins of Halloween in another video. And how it goes back to the Celts who had ceremonies for the Winter Solstice to ward away evil spirits and then again in February to scare away winter. They were so scared of the winter because they would struggle with starvation, cold and sickness. It’s really fascinating to me how so much has changed since Celtic times, however we are still celebrating their traditions and holidays.
Next year to the Fasnet in the South...(:
What I would be interested in: As you know the mentality and 'way of life' in Germany changes from region to region or even from village to village. Were you able to experience that on your trip (besides seeing so many drunk, costumed people of course)? What would you say are the differences between Bavaria and the Cologne-region when it comes to culture, language and that kind of things.
I myself was born in Ostwestfalen and although Cologne and Düsseldorf are in the same Bundesland as Bielefeld, Karneval feels SOOO weird and other-wordly to me (not the biggest fan, tbh).
I am happy to see you all had a great time!
Hi Greta! That’s a great question and, to be honest, the city is so different during Karneval that we really don’t know what the culture and people are like the rest of the year. However, I will say that the restaurant and hotel staff were so very friendly and nice. We got a very good impression!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLifeThe people calling themselves Rheinländer are like really open and often still direct. I'm from Bonn (former capital from 1949-1990 and than from 1990-1999) and here Carnival is also really present and as a kid and younger adult I loved the being outside, dressed up and getting candies. Maybe you can visit Cologne and also Bonn in the non-Carnival Time as both cities are kinda interesting too.
So yeah, hope you had a great time in Cologne.
P.S. I like you "forcing" your children to watch cathedrals and churches. As a kid I didn't like it either but like when you know more about history I started to love cathedrals/churches (for the architecture mostly), so when I go to a foreign city I always try to get in a few cathedrals/churches.
No way, your were in Cologne? And I'm in your video! Well I think in the Schull- und Veedelszöch are more than 48 groups. We were already the 41th from the school groups and after us are also all of the Veedel groups, so I guess more around 80 groups.
We had a hard time to buy candy this year, because some offerer didn't sell this year. The flowers are called "Strüssjer".
You’re in the video?! How fun!! Which part are you in?
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I'm a teacher and organized the costumes at our school. We went as the topic " too hot. too cold. - we'll make it work together" Our costumes are the one side red with suns and the other side blue with snow. And white wigs with the big sun.
I don't know how it's organized in Cologne, but I remember a saying from my native Mainz. The last band of the parade are the garbage collectors and the last floats are the street cleaners. We lived right at the parade way, and you could literally watch them follow the tail of the parade half an hour later, and the next day, there was hardly anything left in town that reminded of the parade.
When I was a kid, they basically only threw bonbons. But that has changed, since much of what they throw nowadays is more like paid advertising "donated" by local businesses. Seems to be the same in Cologne.
Karneval is a very regional thing. I realized this year how far Wattenscheid and Bochum are apart. Wattenscheid is a part of Bochum since 1975 (which Wattenscheiders find hard to accept, until now). But obviously, there is a frontier running between Wattenscheid and Bochum, between Rhineland and Westfalia. In Wattenscheid they go crazy about Karneval. Here, it' s really not an issue. For me, I can totally live without it...
I understand the tiredness of carnival. It is loud and messy and you are drunk and have to manage to pee somewhere. And nowhere to sit. And lot of singing and chatting. Nowadays I am always done with it on Saturday. Rosenmontagszug I watch on TV. I am old. 😭
Yeah totally! I agree. When you are 24, it’s fun. But then once you’re older, it’s just too much! I had a bad headache after one hour at the Rosenmontag parade. 😅
I was working at the Rosenmontag zug with other medics and police officers. A lady in a princess gown approached me and asked if she could use the bathroom of the church where we were stationed. I couldn't let her but I did go check out a Dixi Klo across the street and confirmed it was open. It was actually very clean, it was not meant to be used for Karneval. She said to me, "I cannot use that! I need a real bathroom. I don't want to get my costume dirty." I thought, "Princess indeed" and I told her if she's desperate, she will use it.
In Cologne there is also the roman-germanic museum that has the relationship between our barbaric ancestors and the Romans in the ancient world as a theme. I think you guys would love that.
Love it! I've been wondering if we should visit Köln for Karnival. Great to see a first hand experience!
Ich lebe seit ca. 30 Jahren als Exilschwob in Köln - der Job hat mich damals hier her gespült - allerdings habe ich die letzten 28Jahre mehr irgendwo gelebt, nur an den Wochenenden in Köln - ok, seit gut 2 Jahren bin ich Rentner und wohne tatsächlich in Köln.
Auf eure allerletzte Frage, der "Kölner an sich" sieht das in etwa so, besser mal erlauben, die Sau raus zu lassen und ansonsten sehr brav zu sein, als die Lebenslust immer zu unterdrücken, was dazu führt, dass sich niemand mehr um "brav" schert. => siehe das kölsche Grundgesetz.
Die Stadtreinigung und insbesondere die Kölner RMVA (RestMüllVerbrennungsAnlage) ist extra auf die Müllflut an Karneval, Christopher Street Day, Köln Marathon, Hochwasser etc. so ausgelegt, dass auch solche Extremereignisse ohne Probleme bewältigt werden können. Ich war da mal während der Planungs- und Genehmigungsphase dran beteiligt. Bedarf im Normalfall: 3 Linien á 16t/h Restmüll, Auslegung: 4 Linien á max 20t/h => da sind 66% Reserve drin. Damit wurde auch angestrebt, dass die Revision einer Linie ohne fremde Hilfe durch andere Anlagen selber abgedeckt werden kann. So konnte die RMVA Köln während/nach der Ahrtal Überschwemmung sehr viel des anfallenden Mülls ohne Probleme aufnehmen.
Als Schwob würde ich euch noch den Rottweiler Narrensprung (z.B. 20./21.02.2023) als alternative Erfahrung der allemanischen Fasnet empfehlen - allerdings würde ich warten, bis das jüngste Kind mindestens 10 Jahre alt ist. Komplett anders, aber halt auch wirklich gelebtes Brauchtum, uralte Holzmasken und sehr traditionelle Kleidungen prägemn da das Bild. Um das zu verstehen braucht es etwas Internetrecherche ...
Ähnlich auch die Basler Fasnacht (auch allemanischen Ursprungs), die zudem meistens später, 2023 jedoch nicht (19.02.-21.02.2023), stattfindet.
LG jogi
Happy to see that the kids had a great time! As a local I was a bit nervous about possible incidents with tourists that might have had one or two Kölsch too many but it seems like you have avoided that :) Alaaf!
Yeah I was worried about that, too, but during the day, it all stayed pretty safe. I wouldn’t go out late at night with kids, though. However, our kids are asleep late and so are we, so it’s not a problem! Haha
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife You´ve timed it well, I think. The sunday is certainly the best day to be around in the city center with kids because most "party enthusiasts" kind of take that as a day off. Thursday (Weiberfastnacht) and Monday are certainly the craziest days, definetly not a recommendation to be around with kids in either the morning or the evening hours. Glad you had a blast! Also, you can never have too many sponges...
Veilchendienstag heißt das 😉
Schade, dass ihr nicht noch den Veilchendienstagszug in Mönchengladbach besucht habt.
😀😀😀
its was an 10 hour parade because they had technical issue at some point, i was on my way to work my nightshift and heard it in the radio, i informed my colleagues that they could still enjoy the parade after they shift at 9pm 😁
Oh did they? Good to know. The school parade started really late also.
I too, prefer the Sunday schul u. Veedelszoch over the Rose Monday Parade.
If you ever have the chance to visit Hannover, there is the main factory of Leibniz Butterkeks. In and around the city, there are a few factory shops of Leibniz, were you can buy cookies and chips and so much cheaper and in bigger bags, then you can buy them in the shops.
And if you come, feel free and contact me. I can show you some beautiful places and history of Hannover and the Region around. 😊
Thank you for the offer! I do want to get up there at some point.
Düsseldorf, Köln and Mainz are the Main Hot Spots of Carnival in Germany 🇩🇪
I think the trash issue is, like, not ideal, *but* it's for a very limited time. Averaged across the year I suspect it isn't quite *that* bad. (Though no doubt it's enough to skew the average amount of trash on the streets upwards) - This is also a huge number of people in a very small area. Spread out across where they *normally* would be, they'd still produce quite a good amount of trash a day (though possibly less overall)
Still would be nice to organize these events in less trashy ways.
Yes this is a very good point.
yep it's worth the fun... and due to hygenic reason it can not be done very much different.... but it's part of the culture but wouldn't a big deal if everything was CO2 neutral.... so Carneval and the culture is probably the least to point a finger at, as long as we have cruise ships, airplanes and so much traffic that is not CO2 neutral