Reflections and Nightmares- Irene A Waters (writer and memoirist)

© irene waters 2015

In Germany the Karneval ,which starts before Christmas on 11/11 at 11:11 am   is a very important event.  At this time the council meets wearing fools hats and performances of song, dance and comedy. Then all is quiet until after Christmas when on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday there are costume balls, street parades and is a time when everyone has fun and a few pranks. The street parades are generally held on the weekend. Along the Rhine the karneval is very important starting in around 1823 as a way to express parody and mockery and subversive anti-Prussian and French sentiments during the occupation.

I came across the Karneval in a small town fairly close to Lorsch where it is called Fasching. The diversity of the floats, from large to very small, was immense as were the colourful costumes.

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It was as though the entire town had turned out for the event despite the cold, wet miserable winters day. The excitement was electric. I was told to shout out Helau which I heard as Hallo as the floats went by. I did this with gusto and was well rewarded with lollies being thrown my way in abundance. The more I got the more I wanted and the crowd around me were amused by this Aussie girl shouting Hello louder and more often than themselves. Soon not only were the floats diverse but also the sweeties which now filled my hat as everyone around me started offloading their sweets on to me. I had a supply to last me a few years.

© irene waters 2015

In response to Thursday’s Special