Hoards of bachelors and bachelorettes stream through big German cities on weekends and want one thing only: a last big bash before tying the knot.

Angela's one of them. She and her sister, mother and six girlfriends are standing in front of the Cologne Cathedral, and Angela's getting nervous. She's not sure what her friends have concocted for her last night out on the town as a single woman. Only a glass of schnapps can help her calm her nerves.

Her friends have made her wear a ribbon in her long blonde hair. Tied to the ribbon is a string with a red, heart-shaped balloon floating above.

"She had no choice," one of the women in the group says. "After all, people have to be able to recognize the bride."

It's a Saturday and Angela is no longer nervous after four shots of schnapps and five glasses of champagne. She's beaming. Her boyfriend proposed to her six months ago in front of the Cologne Cathedral.

"We thought it'd be a good idea to involve the cathedral in our little party today," says another one of the women, and laughs. "We're sending Angela to climb up all the stairs into one of the spires!"

Angela's eyes widen with disbelief.

Way back when

In the 19th century, a stag or bachelor's party truly meant saying farewell to a particular group in society; they were rites of passage. Back then, the men would guzzle down a few beers; women would have coffee and cake together. The separation of the men and women, though, is the only feature left over from that tradition.

Before the 1980s and 90s, couples in Germany would usually celebrate a wedding-eve party -- called a Polterabend -- in which they and their friends would throw plates and old china on the ground for good luck.

Nowadays in Germany, bachelor's and bachelorette parties are much like the "stag nights" and "hen nights" in Anglo-Saxon countries.

Christiane Cantauw, a folklorist at the University of Münster, said a real bachelor's party involves: "breaking rules, it's about making a fool of yourself in public, and about reaffirming the group within this tradition."

The women in Angela's group drink another schnapps on the lookout deck of the Cologne Cathedral. They ask her to name three reasons why she wants to marry her fiancé: "He always listens to me, he always makes me laugh, and he always stands by me," she says.

Cantauw says the audience aspect is important. "Bachelors and bachelorettes celebrating their parties are not playing by the normal rules of society, and they need an audience to show off to. Otherwise, it's no fun," she says.

Organized fun

There are even "love tours" nowadays in large German cities to help bachelors and bachelorettes celebrate. Women tend to take advantage of the organized tours more.

Bus companies offer trips to Luxembourg. Hotels offer special weekend packages that include food and a keg of beer for the party girls. It's harder for the men, who tend to get rowdy. Pubs often don't want to let them in because they bother guests.

For that reason, Stefan and his friends have been putting on their own party in the streets of Cologne. Stefan has been forced to don a traditional woman's dress, a dirndl, an orange Pippi Longstocking wig and bright red lipstick.

His friends are all wearing jeans and t-shirts with his picture on the front. Below it, the following words are printed: "After a long journey, the path now leads into the harbor of marriage."

Parties with strippers? One last fling before the wedding day? It happens, but most bachelors and bachelorettes say being silly with their friends is the most fun.

"We've sent Stefan out in town to gather tags from pieces of lingerie. He has to collect 50 by quarter to eight, then we're going out for dinner before we go shake up the town," says one of Stefan's friends.

As for Angela, come tomorrow, she'll be in her fiancé's arms again.

"I'm marrying him because I'm convinced he's the right man for me. After all, I believe in true love," she says.