Fastnacht

The celebrations that occur in the days prior to Ash Wednesday go by various names but have slightly different customs that we know as Mardi Gras have their counterparts in the Catholic areas of Germany. The name and customs associated with these celebrations change from region to region. For example, in Bavaria it is called Fasching.

In the middle Rhine that include Koblenz and the major celebrations in Cologne and Mainz, Karnival is the name used. The celebrations are filled with political satire. The predominate costume is that of a 18th century soldier, an attempt to make fun of the French soldiers that occupied this areas at that time.

In Schwarzwald, the celebrations are much more influenced by ancient pagan efforts to scare away the evil spirits of winter. The costumes are much more attempts to change the shape of the person wearing it. They include the use of carved wooden masks and clothing to change the person in to an animal or a witch or some other beast that the spirits would think twice about dealing with. The slideshow above is actually a link to my web album containing the pictures of the parade in Neuenburg, a small town in on the edge of the Schwarzwald, that we watched Sunday.