For the first time in three years, the Shrove Monday processions set off again on Monday. In 2021 and 2022 the trains were canceled due to Corona. Instead, last year there was a demonstration in Cologne against Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. A quarter of a million people took part. This time the war is a theme on the Persiflagewagen.
For example, Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking part in Cologne’s Shrove Monday train twice this year: on one wagon he can be seen kissing the devil with the socialist fraternity, on another as the vampire Nosferatu, who is turning the world through a meat grinder.
“Peace, Freedom, Tolerance!”
The Mainz Shrove Monday procession also makes several references to the Ukraine war. One of the floats shows Putin blowing wind against an umbrella in the colors of the EU, stretched out by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The motto of the Mainz train is: “In Mainz, Fastnacht stands for peace, freedom, tolerance!”
In Düsseldorf, the cars are kept secret until just before they leave, but the topic of the Ukraine war is also to be implemented there. “I think that in bad times you need good subversive satire,” said the car builder Jacques Tilly of the German Press Agency. Tilly’s cars often attract international attention.
“Who are the climate terrorists?”
As an exception, the sculptor and designer has already revealed one topic: climate protection. The car stands behind the concerns of climate activists of the last generation, Tilly revealed on Friday. The motto car asks: “Who are the climate terrorists?” You can see an activist from the last generation trying to stop the destroyers of the world climate, embodied by brown coal excavators, industry and traffic, with his body.
“The worries about the tipping points are justified and the dangers are real. If the methane gas is released as a result of the climate crisis in Siberia, the earth will literally become climate hell,” said Tilly – and appealed to the last generation: “You need it Not disturbing the train would be counterproductive. If the train stands still for 45 minutes, it’s just broken.” There had previously been speculation that activists could become stuck on the train route.
In general, it is expected that the Rose Monday processions will be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators along the route, just like in the pre-Corona period. In Cologne, where the largest German carnival procession winds its way through the city, the police secure the event with 2,000 officers. The Cologne Rose Monday procession is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year and is therefore rolling across the Rhine for the first time. So far, he has only ever moved in the city area on the left bank of the Rhine.
