The first Jecken in North Rhine-Westphalia started Shrove Monday when it was still dark. Some early risers arrived in Cologne city center in their colorful costumes a good three hours before the start of the traditional “Zochs”. You want to be in the front row on the side of the road when the floats finally come by, said a carnival participant who was traveling with a group of friends. Other Jecken hurried past to find a supposedly better place for the camel dance a little further away.
The largest Rose Monday procession in Germany is said to be eight and a half kilometers long, Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) wants to mingle with the foot soldiers. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) are also there – but these two only appear as oversized papier-mâché figures on the theme float: Scholz as a peacefully slumbering sloth, Lindner as a sweating piggy bank.
