Hannover helau!
That's what costumed revelers were shouting when I went downtown on Saturday. I actually went to shop but ended up watching some of the Karneval parade anyway because the streets were just full of people and getting anywhere was difficult.
"Helau!" is the standard Karneval 'battle cry' and originated in Düsseldorf. If you live in Cologne, however, you need to shout "Kölle Alaaf!" (Köln vor allem) - roughly "Cologne before all the rest!". In Rheinland-Pfalz you'll often hear "Narri Narro!" and in Mannheim they say "Ahoi!"
My kids went off to school today for a bit of fun looking like this
posted by christina @ 9:03 AM
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25 Comments:
*LOL* Adorable! :D Oh man, I wish I'd thought of number two!
Hopefully “Capone” wasn't caring his machine gun.
We're never gonna be able to live down that stereotype.
Lisa - we inherited #2 (the costume, not the kid) from some friends and I'm not exactly sure yet what it's supposed to be. Those are his real eyes behind those crazy glasses.
Duncan - No machine guns allowed in school! He had to leave his at home.
Karl - You mean not everyone from Chicago dresses like that? ;-)
This sounds really interesting and fun, Christina. I really don't know much about Karnival even though I lived in Germany! Does every town celebrate?
Your kids look great! :)
Hi Cathy - it's not as big in the north as it is in the south, however most towns celebrate a bit with parades and the kids get dressed up for school. The biggest parade in the north is in Braunschweig but Karneval mostly seem to centre around Cologne, Düsseldorf, Mainz and Koblenz.
such cute costumes
Al Capone! and the red-hair with those glasses! (Pumuckl?)enjoy it. My experience in Hamburg was very low key but the kids (not mine) loved the costumes.
Hmm - sounds fun for watching the parade. Is it loud and full of music too? It feels like a halloween celebration all over again for the boys!
Looks like great fun!! :)
Thanks, Christina!
I will have to surf the internet about it a little more. I have friends in a few of the cities you mention.
Helau! How cute is that? Well, hope they had a great day at school!
Love those picts, Christina. What? No guns in school? ;-) And it could be Pumuckl. Great glasses (well, the effect)
Very Cute!
The second one (Boy12?) looks a lot like you :P
As far as Carnival goes here, it's mainly a drinking holiday. Big whoop. What's the difference bewteen getting drunk and wearing a costume and not? I'll never understand that, which is why I flee to Italy for a REAL Carnival celebration (after the annual Women's Day Pissup, of course).
I did actually attend the Carnival parade here in 2003 and damn near fell asleep during it due to how boring it was.
I like Capone's "tough face" face and stance...so cool!
Oh look! They both look great! I hope they had fun today!
Mar - I don't think it's Pumuckl - he doesn't have glasses. Boy12 seem to think it's a goat herder or something. Who knows? :-)
Expat - Yeah, it's really loud. There are all sorts of clubs and associations that have their own marching bands so there's music the whole time.
Cathy - if you look up "Karneval" at the German Wikipedia there's tons of information.
J - Thanks alot! ;-) Yeah, he got my crappy eyesight and orange hair. Yep, the parades aren't that exciting in Germany but it's all we have, right?
Wendy - he had fun trying to look really mean. :-)
looks like alot of fun !! -
Awesome! They are styling...
You realize we've waited for this day for...forever! The show-and-tell is always a memory to behold. Al Capone is even BETTER than I was expecting! How fun.
They look great! Bet they had a great time!
is that some crazy german cartoon character?
Al Capone is too cool! :)
Wonderful costumes!! I think that's Snuffy Smith in the glasses. Was he carrying moonshine?
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