Karneval, Fasching, Fast Nacht – this German holiday is too big for a single name, so it has three instead. It's even too big for one or two days – it lasts a week! But for the sake of comprehension and brevity, and because of my regional location, I'll call it Fasching, and it will take place on the 16th.
I'll give you all a quick background of this end-of-winter fest: Fasching is a mix of a couple different traditions/holidays. Many Christian fests were held around this time to party wildly before Lent, but pagans also celebrated at the end of winter to drive out the evil spirits of the cold season. Later, it became a time for social and political critique, a time when the common folk could let the government really know what popular opinion was without being punished. I don't really know much about the history, but at some point it developed many different interesting traditions.
Throughout the entire week, costuming oneself as absurdly as possible is the norm. On the first day, always a Thursday, any woman is allowed to cut off the tie of and kiss any man she wants. Parades march continuously through the streets. But perhaps the most important tradition for anyone really excited about Fasching is the normalcy of intoxication. Everyone is drunk. The whole week.
You would automatically think that this would be a major problem. I mean, in such a huge city as Mainz or Cologne, with so many drunk people, disasters are bound to happen. Yet, that was not the case. Every single person I ran into on the street was one more joyous, costumed celebrator who did nothing more than beam at me and slap me on the back.
After hearing about such a wonderful concept as Fasching, you might imagine that all of Germany wouldn't be able to get enough of it. It's actually celebrated predominantly in southwestern Germany, and hardly at all in any other regions.
I had the good fortune to land very close to one of the hubs of the celebration, Mainz, and spent the last real party day wandering through the city with five of my good friends. We had ordered our costumes from the internet and all had the exact same one. I spent the day running around Mainz as a member of a troupe of jolly bunny rabbits.
If you are ever planning a trip to Germany, find out when Fasching/Karneval/Fast Nacht is being celebrated, and go then. Bring a goofy costume (the more eccentric the better), make sure you have a few Euros for your own preferred happy juice (enough to last a week), and join the merry throngs of dancing, singing joyous Germans. It is an experience I will probably never find an equivalent for, and absolutely one that I will never forget.
The feeling of common joy, shared by thousands upon thousands of people, is one that is difficult to match.
And the moment you've all been waiting for, your dose of German vocabulary:
Hellau!: The jolly greeting people in Mainz yell at each other.
Bier: Beer.
Überlebungswichtiges Nahrungsmittel: Beer.
Jäck: Someone who celebrates Fasching.
Kreppel: Traditional Fasching donut-like snack.
Guude Laune: Untranslatable feelings of happiness.
Tommy Symmes
