Photo By Martin Heinen | USAG Wiesbaden Garrison Commander Col. David Mayfield received the Wiesbaden Fasching...... read more read more
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“Helau”! “Helau”! “Helau”!
This festive chant was heard throughout Mainz and Wiesbaden last weekend, as members of the Garrison Wiesbaden Command Team attended the symbolic rushing of the Mainz-Kastel City Hall on Saturday and the Mainz Rose Monday Parade.
The festivities of Karneval (or Fasching) date back to the Middle Ages. The word Karneval stems from the Latin “carne levare” (without meat) and Fasching derives from the Middle High German word Vaschang (in modern German: Fastenschank), which referred to the last alcoholic drinks consumed before the start of Lent. These words symbolize the European equivalent of the Mardi Gras tradition of eating, drinking and merriment before the fasting season.
There are three main variations of carnival in German-speaking countries: The Rhenish Carnival (Karneval), the Swabian-Alemannic Carnival (Fastnacht), and Fasching, which is celebrated in parts of southern Germany (including Hesse), Saxony, Berlin, and Brandenburg.
Karneval festivities traditionally kick-off with costumed members of the Karneval clubs symbolically storming city hall to take “control” of the city until Ash Wednesday. This was no different on Feb. 10, when the Karneval clubs of Kastel, Amöneburg and Kostheim playfully stormed the Mainz-Kastel city hall, while the city leadership was inside.
Back-and-forth negotiations and jokes were flung between the Fasching clubs outside the city hall and city leaders inside, until the president of the Fasching club finally demanded that the Lord Mayor “surrender” the town’s treasury and the key to the city hall. Lord Mayor Mende, the Wiesbaden Lord Mayor, finally surrendered and was promptly put in handcuffs and the district mayors into pillories.
Luckily, before Mende was put in handcuffs, he awarded the USAG Wiesbaden Garrison Commander, Col. David Mayfield, with the Wiesbaden Fasching Medal as a show of partnership between the city and USAG Wiesbaden, the unofficial 27th district of Wiesbaden. After the ceremony, Mende expressed that the American friends and neighbors are welcome to join the area’s festivities.
Throughout Fasching, many German towns organize their own parades that consist of elaborate floats.
The highlight of Karneval, or Fasching, is Rose Monday (Rosenmontag). Hundreds of thousands of people participate or watch these parades from sidewalks. One of the largest and most popular ones in Germany is the Mainz Rose Monday Fasching Parade, televised live on German TV.
USAG Wiesbaden Command Sgt. Maj., Yves Pamphil, accepted the invitation of Mainz Lord Mayor Nino Haase and Rheinland-Pfalz minister president Marie-Luise “Malu” Dreyer to watch the parade together.
Some of the floats in the Mainz parade are sarcastic and cynical, especially in the political realm however, this is all in good fun – but with a real message.
Special foods are also served during Fasching, such as the region’s traditional Weck, Worscht and Woi (bread rolls, sausage, and wine). For sweet lovers, a big part of this time of the year are Berliners. The sugary snack goes by many different names throughout Germany including the Berliner, Krapfen, Kreppel, or Pfannkuchen, but there is only one way to describe them. Fluffy, fried until crisp on the outside, drenched in powdered sugar and filled with jam or cream. It is essentially a donut with no hole and this type of German pastry spread through Portugal all the way to Hawaii and resulted in Malasadas.
Participating in local customs is very important to the Garrison Command Team. It shows their continued support to the surrounding cities and their commitment to remain a part of the local communities.
It is equally important to show our German neighbors U.S. culture and American traditions. Therefore that same weekend, the Garrison command team hosted Brig. Gen. Bernd Stöckmann from USAG Wiesbaden’s official German Armed Forces partner unit, the Landeskommando Hessen, to watch the Super Bowl in the Wiesbaden Entertainment Center on Hainerberg Kaserne in the morning hours of Monday.
| Date Taken: | 02.16.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 02.16.2024 03:24 |
| Story ID: | 464063 |
| Location: | WIESBADEN, HESSEN, DE |
| Web Views: | 78 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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