Seemingly since the beginning of time for most people the jolly days around shrovetide, carnival and Mardi Gras are an appreciated possibility to get away from their daily routine. Of course, this usually implies wearing an imaginative costume. By disguising oneself, it becomes easy to neglect social conventions as well as criticizing grievance and excesses during carnival. In this regard, costume masks play an important part, naturally with local differences.
The type of carnival celebrated in the german Rhineland is often featuring political themes, as can be observed each year anew. Every year, the parade on “Rose Monday”, i.e. the Monday preceeding Shrove Tuesday, is the highlight of the carnival season. This years motto in the carnival stronghold of Dusseldorf was „Jeck, wie can!“, spoofing the well known Obama phrase, while the motto in the City of Cologne was “In Kölle jebützt”. It is often the case, that especially politicians and their actions are displayed in a taunting, yet funny manner, with Angela Merkel, Silvio Berlusconi or Barrack Obama being popular themes in particular. The attending crowd was, as always, full of life and enjoyed their jester’s licence, while sometimes wearing masks of celebrities and politicians.
A little more to the south, things are a quite different, for example the „Fastnacht“ in Switzerland or the Swabian-Alemannic „Fasnet“ which is being celebrated in Southern Germany. The origin of the tradition of Shrovetide dates back to pagan times. Masks play an important role for Shrovetide too, the tradition of carving wooden masks can be traced back over 500 years. Noteworthy are the so-called „Larven“, these are intricately carved wooden masks, which are often skillfully painted. These „Larven“ are being displayed by mask groups in the major moves, such as in Basel or Bern. This fascinating old traditions attracts thousands of locals and tourists every year In addition to the mask groups, the followers of Guggenmusik are making a sensation. These are elaborately dressed and often masked brass groups, which present their own interpretation of well-known pieces of music. The special feature of these particular brass pieces is, that they are played deliberately false. Overall this is a spectacle worth seeing and hearing, involving not only wind instruments, as sometimes you can even see a tovepipe being used as an instrument. In Switzerland and southern Germany, there are many followers of the rather oblique Guggenmusik. Even with the dates of the celebrations there are differences, while the hustle and bustle of the carnival in the Rhineland and the celebrations of ‘Fasnet’ end on „Aschermittwoch“, the Shrovetide in Switzerland is being celebrated till the end of February.