ZAt least for one day, or more precisely: for a sociable eleven hours, the carnival participants were once again able to show their colors and shout hello on the “Eleventh in the Eleventh” in downtown Mainz. To mark the start of the new campaign, which officially only begins on New Year’s morning with the guard parade, an estimated 11,111 friends of the four-colored hustle and bustle gathered on Saturday from 11:11 a.m., as in the other carnival strongholds such as Cologne and Düsseldorf Schillerplatz, which is fenced in for them and therefore kept largely free of glass: in order to first think about the eleven articles of the Foolish Basic Law in the best proclamation weather and then probably later on with one or two pints, i.e. some sparkling wine spritzer.
“Mainz am Rhein invites the whole world to drink on Carnival Night” is the appropriate motto for the 2024 carnival campaign, which this time only lasts until February 13th and is therefore quite short. To finance the Rose Monday procession and the street carnival, which has now cost a good 500,000 euros This time, fans of the tradition will be offered a “Schoppestecher” in gray as a train badge that costs six euros. By the way, from January 1st it will no longer be in China, but with regional partners such as the company Bericap and with the help of 3D printers, cape figurines for all carnival supporters will also be available as eleven euros worth of gold and also dangling from a colorful cord -Edition give.
“No place at any time for hatred and xenophobia”
The new, non-party mayor Nino Haase, standing on the balcony of the Osteiner Hof, made it clear in his speech to the people of fools that the “Meenzer Fassenacht” was an asset worth protecting that had to be defended by the guards against muckers and philistines: But there was no such thing There is “no place for hate and xenophobia at any time”. Anyone who has ever experienced Carnival and celebrated it “loses their heart to this city where the chemistry is right,” said the 40-year-old chemist – and then Helau three more times.
To celebrate the day, on behalf of the Mainz Carneval Association of 1838, which organized the open-air party, representatives of three guards celebrating in 2024 were allowed to read out the Foolish Basic Law: after all, the Mainz Carneval Club can look back on its 125th anniversary next year; The Kastel carnival club, located on the right bank of the Rhine, has existed for seven eleven years; and the Mainz Fool’s Club was founded 75 years ago in order to regularly take part in the colorful fool’s game in the streets, squares and halls in God Joku’s name.
Jewish carnival association in Cologne asks for assistance
The new season also opened on Saturday at 11:11 a.m. in Cologne, Düsseldorf and other carnival strongholds. “It’s okay to celebrate Carnival,” said Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker in front of thousands of revelers at the Heumarkt in the old town. “That doesn’t mean we don’t think about those affected by war and violence.”
The post first appeared on www.faz.net
