The Faschings Parade here in Kempten will be on Saturday. It is one of the events we will use to help keep our visitor from succumbing to jet lag. :-) The parade, as I understand it, is basically a reall
y big, outrageous costume party. Everyone in the parade will be dressed up in crazy outfits, more like a circus parade, and many of the bystanders will also be in costume. Some of the students from my classes discussed how they would be dressed for the parade. I can't wait to see it. I've decided to go as the Crazy American. Although we are one of the bigger towns, our parade will be small compared to the big ones in Cologne and Mainz. Literally, millions of people will go to see the parades in these two towns. The parade is one of the culminating events to this Faschings celebration.
y big, outrageous costume party. Everyone in the parade will be dressed up in crazy outfits, more like a circus parade, and many of the bystanders will also be in costume. Some of the students from my classes discussed how they would be dressed for the parade. I can't wait to see it. I've decided to go as the Crazy American. Although we are one of the bigger towns, our parade will be small compared to the big ones in Cologne and Mainz. Literally, millions of people will go to see the parades in these two towns. The parade is one of the culminating events to this Faschings celebration. As I said before, the whole season has some of its roots in pre-Christian, Alemannic celebrations and rituals. One part of the parade costume is sometimes carved wooden masks. These masks 
are often exquisite works of art from expert wood carvers and are often handed down over the generations. Many masks are museum quality. These masks also serve another purpose, though, either to represent the evil winter spirits or the good spirits that usher in spring. They were a way to allow all the social classes to intermix, which was very important for the women who were often heavily restricted in expected behavior (again back to why there is Weiberfasching) as well as for peasants and servants. Today, they just seem to be more of a way to have anonymity to be a bit wild and mischievous.
are often exquisite works of art from expert wood carvers and are often handed down over the generations. Many masks are museum quality. These masks also serve another purpose, though, either to represent the evil winter spirits or the good spirits that usher in spring. They were a way to allow all the social classes to intermix, which was very important for the women who were often heavily restricted in expected behavior (again back to why there is Weiberfasching) as well as for peasants and servants. Today, they just seem to be more of a way to have anonymity to be a bit wild and mischievous. These parades happen not just in the big cities or even small ones like our town, but in villages and towns across the countryside as well. Another peculiarity of each parade is the shouts from the onlo
okers. Each dialect (and sometimes village) has there own cheer, which is usually rewarded with candy thrown from the parade floats. Cologne's cheer is "Alaaf" while Mainz's cheer is "Helau". I haven't been able to find what Kempten's local call out might be, but on Saturday we will get a chance to find out. Faschings parades can begin anywhere from the two weekends before Ash Wednesday right up to Faschingsdienstag (Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday in the US.) The big ones in Germany that I have mentioned usually fall on Rosenmontag, or the Monday before Ash Wednesday.
okers. Each dialect (and sometimes village) has there own cheer, which is usually rewarded with candy thrown from the parade floats. Cologne's cheer is "Alaaf" while Mainz's cheer is "Helau". I haven't been able to find what Kempten's local call out might be, but on Saturday we will get a chance to find out. Faschings parades can begin anywhere from the two weekends before Ash Wednesday right up to Faschingsdienstag (Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday in the US.) The big ones in Germany that I have mentioned usually fall on Rosenmontag, or the Monday before Ash Wednesday.The word for today is parade: der Umzug (oom tzoog) or for a military parade, die Parade (pah rah deh).
The topic for tomorrow is Rosenmontag.
Auf Wiedersehen,
Frau Spitzer
