Frankfurt Fasching Fotos
February 22, 2004
Dear Friends and Families,
Carnival is a big deal in these parts of Germany, but we're still having a hard time not thinking of the annual celebrations in terms of hot Brazilian summer nights, not cold and dreary northern European days.
Nevertheless, we found a Saturday parade that showed the local way of pre-Lenten celebration. We hope you enjoy our pictures and share our sense of the teutonic tradition.
Besides, it's the celebrating that counts. Go celebrate something.
John and Marianne
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Some costumes seemed no different from Rio de Janeiro's small "Blockos", or neighborhood Carnival parades: People dressing in finery of their own creation. |
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This image of the grand hoop-skirt does match our Carnival image. |
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And, of course, there can never be too many swirling skirts. |
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Or, from time to time, skirts too small to swirl. |
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A major feature of German Karnivals is the steady passing of floats and marchers throwing candy at the crowds. We never quite knew who would throw candy and who confetti, but it was a ritual enjoyed by throwers and receivers no matter what. |
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The scramble for thrown penny-candy was fun to watch but we felt that joining in would both violate our diets and, perhaps, risk injury from the competitors. |
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Some of the audience was as colorful as the parade members. These hearty fellows had finished their parade turn but stayed to cheer on the others. |
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Otherwise, the audience was just your normal selection of staid and stolid Frankfurters. |
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One by one, some of the people parading past truly made an impression. |
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Mr. Kat, was enjoying the whole show. |
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And this back-up band was as colorful as any in the hours-long parade. |
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Some of the band costumes were less thematic but the drummers were all enthusiastic. |
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A key feature of German Fasching parades is the inclusion of political humor. I thought this was Bill Clinton taking money from John Kerry but the German policeman looking on (but doing nothing) means it's a local problem. |
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The tax-reform tug-of-war was also a theme that could fit on either side of the Atlantic. |
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And then, there were folks whose politics came from a past age, as these Prussians harkened back to some image of the good-old-days. |
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And, once again, the good-old-days nostalgia also seemed to span from one side of the Atlantic to the other. (Do these people understand that these wars have been over for some time?) |
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The French revolutionaries march past, firing their cannon. Note that the graffiti sign in the background reads: "Anarchy is freedom" and may speak for parts of modern France -- or Germany. |
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But, not to worry, the entire display was under the tight control of Frankfurt's Finest. Somehow, the image of serving beer from the trunk of a police car showed a modern Germany -- ordered, but not too much so, especially during Karnival's Fasching parades. |