With floats packed with satire in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz, the Rose Monday parades are the highlight of Carnival season. German astronaut Alexander Gerst reveals what the tradition and space travel have in common.
Image: Reuters/T. Schmuelgen
Advertisement
Cologne Carnival floats take a jab at politics
The climax of Cologne's Carnival comes on Rose Monday, with the city's official parade. Here's a look at some of the 74 decorated floats and their satirical messages.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Unexpected self-destruction
Cologne's traditional Rose Monday parade features different satirical floats that include political commentary. This one refers to Banksy's artwork that self-destroyed during a 2018 Sotheby's auction, now known as "Love is in the Bin." Portrayed is Angela Merkel. Following disastrous regional elections, she announced in October 2018 that her fourth term as Germany's chancellor would be her last.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
CDU: winners and losers
The race to replace Angela Merkel was the center of a lot of attention following her announcement, so it's no wonder it became the focus of a Carnival float. Seen here is Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, of Merkel's CDU party, popping a bottle of "Merkel Brut" bubbly atop the winner's podium, with her competitors Jens Spahn (l) and Friedrich Merz (r) looking unhappy at her side.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
SPD politicians of a sinking ship
The characters replacing Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in their iconic "Titanic" scene are Andrea Nahles, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and her party's Olaf Scholz, Federal Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor under Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Grand Coalition (known as the Groko). In regional elections in 2018, the SPD sunk to a historic low.
Image: Reuters/T. Schmuelgen
The golfer
Well-known for his affinity for golf and taking a club to the standing order, the US President is the butt of this float's joke. Seen here with his trousers sliding off to reveal a bottom tattooed with a heart and "me" ("I love me"), Trump is taking aim at organizations like the WTO and NATO.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Boxing Brexit
Brexit has been at the center of many floats over the last two years. As the date for Great Britain to leave the EU nears, this wagon motif shows a man punching himself in the face. The boxer appears to be knocking his own teeth out — teeth which are labeled "responsibilities."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gambarini
Pollution leaves a bad taste in the mouth
Taking on a topic that's been under debate — the emissions scandal and a lack of coordinated response to address the city's high levels of pollution — this float shows a politician sucking the gas out of an auto industry lobbyist. Beside them are common sources of pollution: coal and fireworks among them.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
A threatening brew
Cracks were discovered in the Doel Nuclear Power Station and other Belgian reactors, and the neighboring German state of North Rhine-Westphalia ordered iodine tablets for its citizens in case of a nuclear accident. The speech bubble refers to a well-known sentence in Cologne's dialect, which translates as "It always worked fine until now," but the word "joot" (good) is replaced by "Jod" (iodine).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Suffocating in plastic
Another float dealing with an environmental issue: The clownfish Nemo, from the popular Disney animated film series is depicted here attempting to flee from a mountain of plastic bags.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
8 images1 | 8
Cologne's Carnival is the biggest and best-known in Germany, and of its many events, the Rose Monday parade is undoubtedly the highlight. In addition to the 74 decorated floats, many of which take jabs at politicians like Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump, this year's special guest is German astronaut Alexander Gerst, known as "Astro-Alex."
The space explorer sees similarities between the raucous parade and being in outer space. Both are "part of humanity's culture," the 42-year-old told German news agency dpa.
Asked if he prefers to ride on a parade float or to travel through space, he said: "Both are good, but I have the Rose Monday float today, so let's see how this goes," adding, "As an astronaut, of course you always want to go back to outer space."
The city of Cologne first held the event in 1823 in an effort to mimic the famous celebrations in Venice, Italy. It was a success, causing many cities in the region to follow suit.
German astronaut Alexander Gerst was a Rose Monday parade participant in CologneImage: Reuters/T. Schmuelgen
Today, Carnival is celebrated primarily in western Germany, with cities like Düsseldorf and Mainz holding their own celebrations.
Last year, temperatures were frigid on the day of the celebration. This year, the weather was once again far from perfect, as storm warnings shook the region. Despite the bad weather, hundreds of thousands of costume-wearing revelers turned out on the streets of Mainz and Cologne for the parades, which started promptly.
US President Donald Trump, the guardian angel of a bloodied Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin SalmanImage: Reuters/W. Rattay
In Düsseldorf, the festivities started later than usual, yet the parade's floats eventually moved along their route bringing their typical satire.
One of the most graphic floats depicted President Trump as an angel atop a bloody chainsaw-wielding likeness of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It was a reference to the president's lack of criticism of the murder of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, widely thought to be directed by the prince.
In the Christian tradition, Rose Monday is seen as the last day to celebrate before 40 days of fasting during Lent. As a result, parades typically feature participants throwing sweets to the audience from floats.
