Carnival revellers turn out in Germany ahead of Ash Wednesday
Revellers descended Thursday on the traditional strongholds of German Carnival culture, Dusseldorf and Cologne, for a raucous days-long party ahead of Ash Wednesday and the start of the Christian season of Lent.
Although the weather was overcast and rainy, clowns, Batmans and polar bears celebrated with wet confetti and rain capes over their costumes, while a few drinks were also included.
The festivities began at the traditional time of 11:11 am (1011 GMT), as a group of women known as the Möhnen stormed Dusseldorf's town hall, while a traditional triumvirate of prince, farmer and maiden let partiers loose in Cologne. The Thursday leading up to Shrove Tuesday is known as Old Women's Carnival (Altweiberfasching) in Germany's Rhineland region.
Cologne in particular once again attracted tens of thousands, albeit significantly fewer than usual. Police chief Johannes Hermanns said that, from the police's point of view, it remained "completely uneventful" until the afternoon.
"The rain probably contributed to this. There are also not as many people in the city as on November 11 or last year," Hermanns said.
"Either people are coming later or they have decided to celebrate at home, which is also nice," Cologne Carnival President Christoph Kuckelkorn told dpa.
In the rowdy Cologne student district of Kwartier Latäng, known for its debauched street parties, crowds of mostly young revellers nonetheless braved the wet and chilly weather to begin celebrating well before the official start.
Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker told dpa that Cologne Carnival is always a celebration of diversity, which is also sung about in many songs: "I would like to see this practised throughout the year ahead."
Kuckelkorn, the leader of the festivities, said: "Cologne is colourful. We have all nationalities, all religious affiliations and orientations here. Cologne is a place of diversity."
For the first time, a prevention campaign against sexual assault was also organized under the slogan "It's a dress, not a yes!".
Video clips drew attention to the fact that certain clothing or exuberant celebrations should not be misunderstood as an invitation to sexual assault.
In nearby Bonn, revellers celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Washerwoman's Uprising in the Beuel district of the city, when women stood up against patriarchal exploitation and formed a women's rights committee.
Every year since 1958, the women of Bonn-Beuel have crowned a woman from their ranks as the Washerwoman Princess as part of the festivities.
Carnival naysayers can call on the German writer Heinrich Böll (1917-1985), winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and a native of Cologne. He once said: "I can't imagine a more terrible duty than the duty to be humorous."
