All the Germans had been talking about it weeks before it came. Fastnacht, a six day
celebration preceding ash Wednesday. They claimed it was the one time Germans really let
loose. "Okay" I thought, "This I gotta see". In Konstanz the Thursday before Ash Wednesday
is the big day. No one works and there's a big party in afternoon where everyone walks to the
Lake and hangs out. Then at night it gets even wilder. You can either dress in your pajamas (yes
that's what I said) and be a part of the huge parade that winds its way through the city OR you
can wear a costume and walk behind the parade, which is really like being in the parade
anyway. So having lost a chunk of weight since moving to Germany (it's amazing what a diet
of Brotchen, butter and beer will do for ones figure!) I opted to wear this ..um snug...body
forming...cat woman outfit, my neighbor loaned me. Well It was more like Leopard woman. I
wore black tights and a leopard print body suit and topped it off with a elaborate headpiece
complete with ears and wild hair. I even...painted my face with whiskers and Leopard like
attributes. If I was gonna do this Fastnacnt thing I thought I might as well go all out.
The city was amazing! The most people I ever seen in Konstanz. Not even the Christmas
market crowd came close to the people parading streets this evening. I have never been to
Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I have never been to Time Squares for New Year eve. I have
never been to Georgetown for Halloween. BUT I have been in Konstanz for Fastnacht and I
think it is like all of those other things combined.
There were tons of bands. Each with its own theme. One would be all happy and bright and
play up beat songs. Another would be all evil and scary and play foreboding tunes. They would
travel throughout the city after the parade and stop now and again creating and instant mini-
party amongst the chaos of the city. I was with a fellow lab-mate, Susi and her friends. After
the parade we bar-hopped. I got a lot of "Hello kitty" greetings. For one stop we found
ourselves on a boat, packed with people. A local radio station hosted a DJ and dancing tunes
on the top floor of the boat. At one point the DJ came into the dancing crowd and began to
Rapping a Fastnacht song. As he sang "Konstanz-city of my dreams, Konstanz -you know
what I mean..", a crowd gathered around him bouncing and shouting along. I was right at the
edge of the bouncing entity and as a result the DJ kept putting his arm around me and pulling
me into the circle to bounce and sing with him. At a later stop we found ourselves dancing on
tables. It was a wild evening. Supposedly it continues until sunrise Friday morning, but I left the
festivities around 1 am, to catch the last bus back to my apartment.
On Friday I was the only one to show up in lab. No one is expected to be in. How can you
work the next day if you've been up all night? The whole weekend you would see people
dressed in costume. No doubt on their way to yet another Fastnacht party. On Sunday there
was another parade. This time groups of people dressed in a common theme paraded through a
suburb of Konstanz. The costumes were amazing. There were mermaids, elves, turtles, Indians,
phantom of the operas, space creatures, witches, shaggy dogs, scarecrows, and so many others.
I have costume ideas for Halloween for the rest of my life now.
Again on Monday and Tuesday I was the only person to keep regular hours at lab. A few people may come for an hour or two then they were off to dress in the costume of the day and go party. Everyone was so happy all the time. Everyone was greeting each other with the Fasnacht hello "Ho Narro!". Which means "Hello fool!" Germans take their holidays very seriously and that means seriously acting crazy. Finally on Tuesday at midnight, Fasnacht officially ends with a huge bond fire in the city, and it was back to the normal on Wednesday.
It was an unforgettable six days.
