Dusseldorf.
For the first time in three years, the Rose Monday procession is rolling in Düsseldorf. There was no shortage of snappy motto wagons. This is how the carnival parade went.
“Düsseldorf, helau!” shout Stefanie (52) and Jörg (58) in unison as the first carriages of the Shrove Monday train roll up. Today the two are a couple of musicians who, true to this year’s motto in Düsseldorf, want to “celebrate life”. They have put on frizzy wigs and big glasses, Stefanie holds a microphone in front of her mouth, Jörg plays exuberantly on his colorful plastic guitar.
No wonder, after all, the Rose Monday procession is rolling again for the first time in three years. Before that, the trains had been canceled due to Corona. But is it easy to celebrate life in times of climate crisis, the Ukraine war or the earthquake in Turkey and Syria? “Definitely,” says Jörg. “We have to make the best of the situation.” A day like today helps him not to lose heart with all the misery in the world.
>>>More about the Rose Monday processions in the region
Stefanie adds: “We are proud of our train in Düsseldorf.” Also because of the twelve motto wagons of the Düsseldorf wagon builder legend Jacques Tilly, who again this year took up socio-political topics in a satirical way. “It’s unique, it doesn’t exist like that in Cologne,” says the Düsseldorf native.
“It’s wonderful for the little ones to finally be able to celebrate carnival again”
Milena (20) and her mother Goscha take a similar view. Disguised as “Minnie mice” they are here with Milena’s younger siblings. “Especially for the little ones, it’s wonderful to finally be able to celebrate carnival again,” says Milena, while her siblings are eagerly picking up a load of gummy bears, fizzy cubes and plastic ducks from the floor. And the motto wagons made the current topics present here too.
On one of the cars, for example, the Russian president is taking a bloodbath in a tub painted in Ukrainian colors. In another, an Iranian mullah tangles in the hair of an Iranian woman’s uncovered head. And the Catholic Church also gets its fat off: The abuse scandal in the form of a devil wants to pull Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki away with it, but he clings to the Cologne Cathedral with all his might, causing the church building to collapse.
Car shown beforehand – out of concern for climate activists
Although the wagon builders usually keep the topics secret until the train, they had shown one wagon in advance: “Who are the climate terrorists?” asks this motto wagon. You can see an activist from the “last generation” trying to use his body to stop the destroyers of the world’s climate, lignite excavators, industry and traffic. The wagon builders wanted to prevent climate activists from possibly blocking the Rose Monday trains.
“Such a blockade would be inappropriate,” says Britta (37) with ladybug daughter Leonie in her arms. However, the Duisburg resident likes the motto car, because “the topic is simply indispensable from this time”.
Shrove Monday procession: discussion about cultural appropriation
“I think it’s good that the car shows the position of many young people,” says Lioba (26), who came with her best friend and a few plastic cups in which she previously filled “knockers”, i.e. small schnapps has. The car, she says, makes the fear of an entire generation visible.
Lioba likes to discuss social and political issues with friends. “Carnival is a good place to get into conversation with other people.” For example, about the concept of “cultural appropriation”.
A car drives past Düsseldorf’s Königsallee, on which a colorful bird accuses a Native American of cultural appropriation, who in turn points a finger at a man dressed as an Indian. Lioba finds it inappropriate to dress up as an Indian or Mexican, “for some groups it is discriminatory”.
Jens (55) sees things differently. He came as his childhood hero Winnetou. He doesn’t understand the debate about it. “I’ve read all the Karl May books and I’m proud of the costume I made myself.” He adjusts his feather headdress. His motto: Everyone should come as they like, “because every Jeck is different after all”.
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