 |
 |
Welcome to the Cologne Carnival!
The official homepage of the Festival Committee of the Cologne Carnival of 1823
Carnival has been celebrated in the City of Cologne since time immemorial. However, after the French Revolutionary troops left Cologne in 1814 and the Prussians took over, it was high time to "organise" the street carnival which, the new authority felt, was getting out of hand.
Thus, in 1823 the "Festordnendes Komitee" was founded, the predecessor of todays Festival Committee.
On February 10, 1823 Cologne celebrated the first Rose Monday ("Rosenmontag") with the motto "Inthronisation of the Carnival Hero".
Over the years, decades and centuries certain traditions and customs emerged, which are still the hallmark of the traditional Cologne Carnival: the indoor festivities (sessions and balls) and, of course, the street carnival, culminating in the grand parade on Rose Monday. It is the task of the Festival Committee, the umbrella organisation representing well over 100 Cologne carnival associations, traditional corps, etc., to coordinate, set common standards, and preserve the tradition of the "fifth season".
No doubt, the Cologne "Karneval" plays in the Champions League together with the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro and Carnival in Venice!
The Carnival Season
Given its Christian roots, the date of Rose Monday is determined by the Church calendar: It takes place on the Monday before Ash Wednesday, which in turn marks the beginning of Lent leading up to Good Friday and Easter. Traditionally, the fifth season is declared open at 11 minutes past eleven on the eleventh of November! The Carnival spirit is then temporarily suspended by the Advent and Christmas period, and picks up again "in earnest" in the New Year. Street carnival, also called "the crazy days", takes places between Thursday (Women’s Carnival Day) before Rose Monday and ends on Ash Wednesday.
Cologne Carnival Museum
Tradition, fascination, diversity
The Cologne Carnival Museum, the largest and most modern museum of its kind in the German-speaking world, opened in June 2005 and presents the history of carnival from its beginnings to the present day. On a journey through the ages, starting with Classical Antiquity, the exhibition highlights topics such as “the Fool”, “Lent and Shrovetide”, “Commedia dell’Arte”, “Carnival in Crisis” and “Carnival during Germany’s Economic Miracle”.
The exhibition offers a comprehensive insight into the different facets of carnival in the Rhineland, ranging from carnival “Sitzungen” (sessions) and the “Triumvirate” to Cologne’s “Schull- und Veedelszöch”-parades. It also looks at stage entertainers, carnival music and alternative forms of carnival and thus reflects the different aspects of carnival culture in Cologne.
This unique collection goes back to the archives of the “Festkomitee des Kölner Karnevals von 1823 e.V.” which has been managed by carnival enthusiasts and continuously enlarged since the 1960s. Just one year after its opening, the museum received the award “Ort der Ideen und Innovation 2006” (place of ideas and innovation).
kölner karnevalsmuseum
Maarweg 134-136
D-50825 Köln
Telefon: +49 (0)221 574 00-76
Telefax: +49 (0)221 574 00-75
Opening times
Thursday 10am to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am to 5pm,
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday for groups on request
Closed during Carnival from Weiberfastnacht (Thursday – first day of Carnival) up to and including Aschermittwoch (Ash Wednesday), Easter and Whitsuntide (Pentecost)
Admission
Adults 4.00 Euro
Concession 2.50 Euro
Family ticket 9.00 Euro
Children over 6-18 years 1.00 Euro
Groups of 15 persons or more 3.50 Euro
Guided Tours: Bookings on KölnTourismus Booking Office +49 (0)221 2 21-2 33 32
Tram, No. 1, Maarweg, 9 minutes’ walk
Bus, Nos. 141 and 143, Widdersdorfer Str./Maarweg, 2 minutes’ walk
