Carnival parade Tübingen (23-01-05)

"Fasnacht" or "Fasching" - Tübingen’s own carnival

When I heard that we would be attending a carnival, I immediately thought of clowns and candy floss and organ music. I was therefore very shocked to find out, that this carnival is more like the German version of Halloween. At the ‘Introduction to the Carnival’-meeting, we were told that “Fasching” or “Fasnacht” serves to drive out the evil spirits of winter. That’s why everything that is a negative symbol to the Church, was used, like witches, sheep and other unearthly monsters. There is however also a very suggestive side to it: originally this was the time of year just before the 40 days of fasting (before Easter) would start - a time in which all enjoyable things like meat, alcohol, song, dance and sex, were not allowed. Therefore, people used to ‘overdose’ on these pleasurable activities during “Fasching”. Even nowadays, many girls are tickled or put into a bed or stamped on their stomachs (our Heidemarie was quite popular…) as a result. It’s important to remember that this is only for fun and no real harm is done.

On Sunday, the 23rd of January, our group attended the “Umzug” or parade in Tübingen. To get into the right spirit, we had our faced decorated and our hair sprayed in all sorts of colours. We found a nice place to stand and made sure that everybody new the landmarks so that, if someone should leave the group, the person(s) would be able to get back.

I must admit that I was really afraid at first, because the wooden masks are so terrifying. It was so hard to remember that there are only human beings behind them. But once I got to see their eyes, I started to relax and eventually enjoyed it thoroughly. We were given lots of sweets, but at a price: confetti in our hair, stamps in the faces, ink on the hands, hair bands snatched etc. We all had a good laugh.

Some of the clubs of clowns or “Narrenzünfte” also had the most awful concoctions which they burnt to give off a horrible smell. Other clubs were friendlier and called out their club’s identifying call. A very popular call is the “Narri-Narro”. Whenever the club cries “Narri”, the spectators call “Narro”. Our South African group was of course very popular, as we always called out the loudest. There were also bands playing and dancing to their music really helped to stay warm.

The parade ended much too soon. We enjoyed the festive atmosphere, the colourful yet scary costumes, the live music and the cute kids in their little outfits. But we were so stiff from the cold, that we appreciated the warm bus ride home. Standing out in the snow for more than 2 hours is not something that I would recommend under normal circumstances.

“Fasching” is definitely one of the highlights of my Tübingen experience!

(Report by Jeanné de Kock, University of Pretoria)