Köln
Doch weil in Köln jeder Zweite vergisst,
Dass nicht das ganze Jahr Karnaval ist...
(Wise Guys - Schunkeln)
The akademische Auslandsamt organises excursions for exchange students. Last Saturday, 11-11, there was one to Köln. I decided to go, not suspecting anything, just curious what the city that is home to the Wise Guys would look like. Then someone told me that on 11-11, carnaval starts there, which reminded me of the above quote, given that I had always been told that carnaval is in February1. Given the Rhineland's reputation for partying, and Köln's special status in the Rhineland (undisputed leader), I was expecting to see a colourful city.
I did.
In the centre, literally everybody was wearing some sort of costume. In spite of the cloudy, rainy and cold weather, the streets were filled the entire day. I have seen devils, Gevatter Tod, navy sailors, Supermen and -women, People's Army officers, bears, monks, pigs, cavepeople, police officers in blue suits, police officers in green suits (those were the real ones), witches, Sumo wrestlers, tigres, people clad in beer cans, male nuns, pregnant nuns, Captain Jack Sparrow, and many more, including many of the possible combinations of the above.
There was a guide with the excursion, who tried to give some sort of city tour, but even in the more quiet places, he was often hard to hear because of the background noise. In squares, phone calls were impossible, and people were holding hands in trains in order not to lose each other. Since we didn't know this trick at first, and failed to adopt it later, we did lose each other, a number of times (hence the attempts at phone calls).
The tour guide at some point told us that the alcohol consumption, as we could see, was 'well, high' at carnaval. We could see this indeed: there were many people with bottles, and, in fact, many bottles in general, even without people. There were places where we had to wade through glass shards, and in one place we saw one possible origin of these shards: some people were at variance, on some topic that didn't become clear to us passers-by, and were throwing bottles at each other to resolve the conflict; the bottles were not always empty. Also, at some point, we were addressed by a few people in costumes with bottles, who, upon hearing that we came from Heidelberg, told us: 'Wenn ihr ein Paar Bierchen trinkt, und dann hier mitfeiern kommt, könnt ihr das richtige Köln erfahren.' In the end, we did not, however true the statement seemed.2
Many of the people with bottles were already quite suitably refreshed3, and in spite of the rather noticable and increased presence of the police, many used the street as a public urinoir. All the publicly accessible toilets (i.e. in bars and such) were indeed very full; most of the men's toilets were actually filled mainly by women.
As the afternoon wore on, the number of costumes on the streets decreased slightly, which was accompanied by an increase in the number of orphaned bottles. I expect this was due in part to the fact that it became a bit rainier and colder, but also because many of those wearing costumes had been on the streets since the previous night. So, if I would happen to go back to Köln, I would try to do so on the evening of 10-11. Also, I can advise everybody who enjoys people in funny costumes to go and see carnaval in Köln at least once in their life.
P.S.: I also saw the Dom, the symbol of Köln, which is impressive indeed. Apart from that, the main attractions in the city are the people and shops and museums and conferences and such; the Altstadt was largely (90%) destroyed in WWII. It has been restored, but does not quite have the same atmosphere of a real old Altstadt, as far as I could see it.
1I have also learned why carnaval starts on 11-11 (at 11:11, to be precise): it is the day on which the Eleventh Commandment becomes effective. The Eleventh Commandment supersedes the previous ten, and revokes them.
2Small correction: the advice about drinking beer was followed by some of my friends, but it probably would have been regardless of being given.
3One of the nicer English euphemisms I have heard; it means 'drunk'.
Dass nicht das ganze Jahr Karnaval ist...
(Wise Guys - Schunkeln)
The akademische Auslandsamt organises excursions for exchange students. Last Saturday, 11-11, there was one to Köln. I decided to go, not suspecting anything, just curious what the city that is home to the Wise Guys would look like. Then someone told me that on 11-11, carnaval starts there, which reminded me of the above quote, given that I had always been told that carnaval is in February1. Given the Rhineland's reputation for partying, and Köln's special status in the Rhineland (undisputed leader), I was expecting to see a colourful city.
I did.
In the centre, literally everybody was wearing some sort of costume. In spite of the cloudy, rainy and cold weather, the streets were filled the entire day. I have seen devils, Gevatter Tod, navy sailors, Supermen and -women, People's Army officers, bears, monks, pigs, cavepeople, police officers in blue suits, police officers in green suits (those were the real ones), witches, Sumo wrestlers, tigres, people clad in beer cans, male nuns, pregnant nuns, Captain Jack Sparrow, and many more, including many of the possible combinations of the above.
There was a guide with the excursion, who tried to give some sort of city tour, but even in the more quiet places, he was often hard to hear because of the background noise. In squares, phone calls were impossible, and people were holding hands in trains in order not to lose each other. Since we didn't know this trick at first, and failed to adopt it later, we did lose each other, a number of times (hence the attempts at phone calls).
The tour guide at some point told us that the alcohol consumption, as we could see, was 'well, high' at carnaval. We could see this indeed: there were many people with bottles, and, in fact, many bottles in general, even without people. There were places where we had to wade through glass shards, and in one place we saw one possible origin of these shards: some people were at variance, on some topic that didn't become clear to us passers-by, and were throwing bottles at each other to resolve the conflict; the bottles were not always empty. Also, at some point, we were addressed by a few people in costumes with bottles, who, upon hearing that we came from Heidelberg, told us: 'Wenn ihr ein Paar Bierchen trinkt, und dann hier mitfeiern kommt, könnt ihr das richtige Köln erfahren.' In the end, we did not, however true the statement seemed.2
Many of the people with bottles were already quite suitably refreshed3, and in spite of the rather noticable and increased presence of the police, many used the street as a public urinoir. All the publicly accessible toilets (i.e. in bars and such) were indeed very full; most of the men's toilets were actually filled mainly by women.
As the afternoon wore on, the number of costumes on the streets decreased slightly, which was accompanied by an increase in the number of orphaned bottles. I expect this was due in part to the fact that it became a bit rainier and colder, but also because many of those wearing costumes had been on the streets since the previous night. So, if I would happen to go back to Köln, I would try to do so on the evening of 10-11. Also, I can advise everybody who enjoys people in funny costumes to go and see carnaval in Köln at least once in their life.
P.S.: I also saw the Dom, the symbol of Köln, which is impressive indeed. Apart from that, the main attractions in the city are the people and shops and museums and conferences and such; the Altstadt was largely (90%) destroyed in WWII. It has been restored, but does not quite have the same atmosphere of a real old Altstadt, as far as I could see it.
1I have also learned why carnaval starts on 11-11 (at 11:11, to be precise): it is the day on which the Eleventh Commandment becomes effective. The Eleventh Commandment supersedes the previous ten, and revokes them.
2Small correction: the advice about drinking beer was followed by some of my friends, but it probably would have been regardless of being given.
3One of the nicer English euphemisms I have heard; it means 'drunk'.
posted by Olivier at 5:45 PM
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