Glamorous princesses, withered witches, smiling clowns and frightening monsters -- all these whimsical figures are about to take over Germany’s streets. In Cologne, the self-proclaimed carnival capital, people not wearing fancy dress will soon be in the minority when the "mad days" kick off on Thursday.

And then, the young and the old, workers and academics alike, will go crazy for five days -- or rather, they will go "jeck", as they say in the local dialect and this is meant in positive terms.

It's all happening in Cologne

"Kölle Alaaf!" is another important expression you need to learn if you want to really experience carnival in the Rhineland. Originally meant as a toast, it roughly means "Cologne above all!" and thus it sets the whole tone for the celebrations -- collective beer consumption and local patriotism, which makes people believe the world revolves around them (at least for five days a year). Forget about Brazil, forget about Venice -- Cologne is where the action is!

During these February days, the city swells to double its size with one million guests from all over the world arriving to swing and sway with the locals to "umpahpah" music. For, despite all their patriotism, the inhabitants of Cologne like to present themselves as international and open-minded. Hence this year's motto -- "Mir all sin Kölle!" -- "We are all Cologne!"

Sweets and flowers

During the closing days of the carnival season, which actually begins on November 11th at 11.11 a.m., every nook and cranny of the city is penetrated by the festive spirit. Schools, shops and firms either close so that people can party elsewhere or they organise their own fancy dress parties.

Two days are obvious carnival highlights. Women's Day on Thursday goes back to one fine Thursday in the year 1824 when women in Bonn fought for their right to take part in the carnival, which until then had been exclusively for men. In memory of this event, fired up women in German cities everywhere storm the guildhalls and cut off the ties of any man they catch, thus symbolically seizing power for one day. Over the last hundred years, men have also come to consider the day as an occasion to celebrate.

And a few days later, on Rose Monday, big carnival parades take place throughout the country and Cologne boasts the biggest and greatest procession of all. It has more than 10,000 active participants -- all members of different local carnival associations -- who cover a distance of seven kilometres on foot, on horseback or in decorated wagons. In their bags, they carry more than 1,500 tonnes of sweets and 300,000 bunches of flowers, which they throw at the crowds.

An ancient tradition

Predecessors of today’s carnival were already celebrated 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia.

However, the German tradition is particularly associated with the country's religious and political background. In the Middle Ages, for one week before the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of severity and discipline, Christian believers could enjoy a time of anarchy, which became known as carnival.

Today, relics from that time can still be detected in the satirical use of religious symbols. For instance, the number 11 gained importance for the festival instead of the holy number 12 and traditionally all carnival committees consist of 11 members.

Gradually, politics also became a target for mockery, as can be seen in the traditional dancing corps where the participants dress up as 19th century soldiers. The fancy-dress soldiers would wiggle their bottoms on stage to ridicule political dignitaries and this tradition persists.

Spoofing a spoof

Gradually, however, carnival became detached from its original satirical overtones and most of today's revellers don't know much about its history. Some critics say that it lost its mocking character and turned into a stifling, inflexible sit-down event because most carnival associations were dominated by seniors who assumed an air of importance and consequently lacked the necessary ironic tone.

For this reason, over the last decade a new, alternative carnival movement has developed in Cologne. And so those who once spoofed others have now become the object of spoof themselves.