Fasching

Happy Fasching. No, not Fascism, Fasching. It's carnaval in Brazil, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and here in Germany we celebrate Fasching, also called Karneval.

In Catholic areas like Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Munich, Fasching is a big deal. Schools and businesses close Monday and Tuesday before Lent as everyone dresses up in silly costumes and gets drunk. Happy Fasching.

Here in the heartland of the Protestant North, we don't do much. On Sunday there was a parade of some kind, with kids and adults dressed in costumes. I ran into the after-party.

The Fasching season actually begins in November. On 11.11, at 11:11am. This is when the council of Karneval leaders meets and plans out the next season's events. The festivities begin on the Thursday before Lent, which is known as 'women's Mardi Gras'. Traditionally, women can kiss any man they like on this day and can also cut off his tie. Then comes Rosenmontag, rose Monday. This is the main day of parades and partying. Tuesday is Fastnacht, when there are more parties and costume balls. It's also when they burn the Nubbel. In a particularly weird tradition, a straw doll called a Nubbel hangs above the doors of various bars during Karneval time. He takes on everyone's sins as a sort of scarecrow scapegoat. Just before midnight on Mardi Gras Tuesday, the Nubbel is lit on fire and the sins vanish. What happens in Köln stays in Köln, I guess.

These traditions vary from one area to the next. And while Fasching celebrations in Hannover are modest, there is one special thing that happens here. People dunk their wallets in the lake. On Ash Wednesday, there's a ceremonial gathering at the Maschsee, the big lake in town, where people take their purses and wallets and rinse them out in the water. If you have spent all your money on beer and costume accessories during Fasching, then your wallet's already empty. Washing it out means that new money will flow into your wallet in the coming year. It might also mean that muddy sludge from the lake or a massive fish will flow into your wallet immediately.

You may remember them from my last triathlon...

 So don your red clown nose and have a happy Fasching, everyone. If you are in Hannover, you might be the only one who's dressed up. However, you may not be the only one with a soggy wallet.