In the carnival strongholds, the street carnival began on Thursday morning. Punctually at 11:11 am the foolish hustle and bustle began. In Cologne, the triumvirate of prince, farmer and maiden unleashed the revelers.
The washerwomen attacked in Bonn. This tradition goes back to an early women’s movement: in 1824 the Beuel Women’s Committee met for the first time in Beuel, which is now part of Bonn. The Beuel washerwomen resisted patriarchy, male dominance and the associated exploitation of women.
For the first time in three years, the carnivalists can celebrate again without corona restrictions. In 2020, the carnival took place just before the first far-reaching lockdown measures were taken, but had also contributed to the spread of the virus. In the following year 2021, the carnival was completely canceled. In 2022, Weiberfastnacht took place under 2G-plus conditions. These restrictions are now gone.
pent-up demand
According to the Cologne Festival Committee President Christoph Kuckelkorn, the carnival fans have a lot of catching up to do after two years with corona restrictions. “The weather is right, the mood is right, people want to experience something together again that we haven’t been able to do for two years – and there is a lot of catching up to do,” said Kuckelkorn on Thursday of the German Press Agency.
“If you swim again in the big soup of the surrounding people and experience something together, that makes you so strong, that’s a social kick, which the carnival also represents.”
The “Möhnen” are loose in Düsseldorf.
The street carnival has also begun in Düsseldorf – traditionally with the storming of the town hall by foolish women. A good thousand jerks had already gathered on the square in front of it. Mayor Stephan Keller awaited the “Möhnen” as a shaggy hippie in sheep’s clothing on the town hall balcony.
“You had two years of peace before us, but today women’s power is the order of the day. We want power,” exclaimed Venetia Uasa Maisch. “We’ll cut off your ties. It’s up to you. We want to get in.”
But the mayor let the “Möhnen”, as the foolish women are called in Düsseldorf, wriggle. The onslaught was only two minutes late: at 11.13 a.m. the historic blue town hall door flew open and the fools entered the municipal powerhouse.
Venetia is the female half of the royal couple, i.e. the carnival princess. The term is said to go back to Jan Wellem’s wife, who regularly gave a Venetian festival for the benefit of the poor between 1669 and 1719.
