From conception to ritualisation: A case study of the Cologne carnival

The Cologne carnival is a festival which is regarded by the locals as deeply entrenched in
their heritage and culture, despite having only around 200 years of history. Every year, both
the locals and visitors from afar dress up in all kinds of costumes to attend the many small
carnival parties held in Cologne during the festive season spanning from 11th November to
Ash Wednesday. The highlight of the festival is the Rose Monday Parade which features
over 10,000 people throwing sweets and flowers from the floats to the crowds as they
complete the 7 kilometre route (Festkomitee Koelner karneval von 1823).

The festival, assuming the identity of a traditional Catholic carnival which dates back to the
14th century (BCG Consulting Group, 2009), secures a high level of local participation and a
strong sense of local ownership. During the carnival period, Cologne transforms into a
pilgrimage centre for the carnival’s ritual, attracting many revellers from other parts of
Germany and the rest of the world.

In this essay, I shall argue that the affiliation to tradition has legitimised and authenticated
the invention of the modern Cologne carnival in the local context, securing local
engagement and in turn enabling its ritualised existence to generate a high level of foreign
interest. First, I shall discuss the importance of invented tradition in legitimising and
authenticating the existence of the Cologne carnival in the local community by drawing
ideas from Hobsbawm and Abbott. With reference to Cohen and Moore, I will then show
how this ‘authenticity’, that which is regarded as ‘Others’ by outsiders and ‘Ours’ by the
locals, enables the creation of a ritual from the carnival, which sustains high levels of local
and foreign participation.

Although various forms of carnivals had been celebrated in the region since the 14th century,
the Cologne carnival only took its form of organised celebration in 1823, with the founding
of the “Festordnendes Komitee”1 (Festkomitee Koelner karneval von 1823). Besides
formalising the carnival celebration, the modern carnival also established new traditions
within itself such as the Rose Monday Parade (Abbott, 2008 p. 102).

1
The predecessor of today’s Festive Committee (Festkomitee Koelner karneval von 1823).
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Despite the fact that the modern Cologne carnival began as a “break in continuity”
(Hobsbawm, 1983 p. 7) from the traditional carnival, thus an invention, its proclaimed
association to the carnival tradition allows it to be accepted by the local community. The
modern carnival was not an actual continuation of the informal street celebration that
began in the 14th century, instead, its origin was a charity carnival masked ball and party in
1822. With its success, “a group of mostly young men from Cologne’s upper class *took+
control of it, remove[d] it from the streets as a private celebration, and transform[ed] it
instead into an official public festival...[whose] intent was [no longer] specifically to fund
public charities” (Abbott, 2008 p. 102). While it paid homage to the traditional carnival
celebration, the origin of the modern carnival as a charity event had a completely different
structure and purpose. In fact, this was an attempt by the Prussians, the new authority who
took over Cologne after the French Revolutionary troops left, to ‘organise’ the street
carnival which they felt was getting out of hand (Festkomitee Koelner karneval von 1823).
The subsequent formation of an organised carnival committee in 1823 altered the unofficial
formation of carnivals which sought to rebel against formal establishments and authority,
resulting in the creation of an event that does not challenge the authority and was only
carnivalesque in appearance. This establishment of a carnival organisation is oxymoronic,
because it formalises and controls a festival that was anarchistic and rebellious in nature.

The outward form of it as a continuation of the carnival tradition is the sine qua non which
guaranteed the carnival’s success and legitimised its subsequent annual repetitions despite
its formalisation. The modern carnival is a “continuity [of the traditional carnival which] is
largely factitious” (Hobsbawm, 1983 p. 2). The Festkomitee rode on the success of the
carnival-like charity event in their organisation of the modern carnival and injected a strong
sense of affiliation to the carnival tradition in Cologne. As Abbott pointed out, this ‘official’
Carnival asserted an authenticity and a history that places it ‘above’ its non-official
sanctioned counterparts (Abbott, 2008 p. 101). This contrived sense of established tradition
in the form of an organised carnival injected a symbolic importance to the otherwise less
significant celebration. Through the acknowledgement of it being a continuation of tradition,
thus integral to their culture, the locals accepted the modern form of carnival, legitimising
its existence.

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Having been accepted as an established tradition, the locals naturalised the carnival into
their culture, and honoured this tradition through their extensive involvement in the festival,
from being part of the organising committee and carnival clubs to becoming one of the
revellers during the parade. The carnival successfully perpetuated the local culture through
the establishment of “their own past by quasi-obligatory repetition” (Hobsbawm, 1983 p. 2).
By recognising it as a part of the local cultural identity, the formalised carnival then became
an official tradition and locals were compelled to honour this ‘tradition’ of theirs through
their participation. As a result, the carnival, which “at one point generally judged as
contrived or inauthentic [had], in the course of time, [became] generally recognized as
authentic, even by experts” (Cohen, 1988 p. 379). Furthermore, by repeating the festival
annually, it allows the carnival practice to become a fixture in the local calendar, thus
increasing local’s exposure, sense of attachment and familiarity to the carnival.

The repetitive occurrence of carnival is essential in creating a sense of loyalty in the locals.
Overtime, the carnival has established its own new symbolic traditions by interweaving
them with the old ones and ritualising the practice of the new set of traditions through
repetition. The modern carnival, slowly introduces its own carnival songs and practises over
the year, which are assimilated by the locals and incorporated in the celebration of the
carnival. With this recurring reinforcement of the carnival spirit and celebration, the carnival
slowly integrates itself with the identity of the locals. Presently, in the 160 carnival societies,
there are a total of around 30,000 members (3% of Cologne’s population)2. This indicates
high levels of committed local participation that sustains the ‘tradition’ of the Cologne
carnival. On an informal level, families and friends engage in the preparation and
celebration of the carnival together: dressing-up, visiting, and drinking. The highly social
nature of the carnival further enables it to integrate into the local lives right from their
childhood. The habitualised celebration slowly grew in authenticity as a symbiotic
relationship is developed between the local culture and the carnival. The Koelsches3 had
incorporated the carnival as an integral part of their local identity, authenticating the
carnival as an event truly owned by the Koelsches.

2
2009 statistic from http://www.koelnerkarneval.de/colognecarnivalstudy.html
3
Koelsches are those who were born in Cologne and are seen as the true locals. (cf. Koelners who are the
people who simply live there)
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Rather than being developed for tourism, the carnival is an event that belongs to the
Koelsches and as the carnival becomes deeply embedded in the festive and cultural identity
of Cologne, it naturally attracts visitors in seek of authentic experiences different from those
of their own. This is a perfect example of an “emergent authenticity” (Cohen, 1988 p. 380),
in which the invented tradition has become so deeply engrained in the local cultural
landscape, that it eventually became a defining local identity capable of attracting high
volume of visitors. The carnival embraces new practices and traditions which, although not
part of the original carnival, were readily accepted into the carnival as part of its
‘authenticity’. Unlike most tourist-oriented festivals which are focused on creating an image
for the public, the high local participation in the carnival organisation enables the carnival to
incorporate strong local flavours and to remain relevant to the local community. Although
the carnival adapts to the contemporary demands of locals throughout the years, such as
the emergence of Women’s carnival4, children’s carnival5, alternative carnival6 and the
ghost parade7, questioning of its authenticity by the public is minimal, because locals were
engaged in these creations. On top of the newly invented practises in the carnival, the floats
displaying the theme of that year usually pokes fun at some political or topical happening,
or show some aspect of the town’s life, culture or industry (Fey, 1960 p. 50). Visitors do not
need it to be “primitive *and+...untouched by modernity” to be convinced of its authenticity
and its “absen*ce+ from *their+ own world” (Cohen, 1988 p. 374), since the Cologne carnival
is a living cultural artefact in its own right, thus belonging to a world of the ‘Other’, a
defining factor for its authenticity.

Due to its draw as an authentic and new cultural experience, the carnival attracts loyal
participants who visit the carnival site annually and religiously. The annual manifestation of
the carnival as an alternate world of existence, turns Cologne into a “pilgrimage center” that
is apart from ordinary settlements (Moore, 1980 p. 208) within which participants are
‘reborn’ into revellers. The carnival period is commonly known as the fifth season, during

4
Started in 1824 by a group of washerwoman, and the practise of cutting ties on this day was only introduced
th
later in the 19 Century (Cowell, 1996)
5 th
Devised by entrepreneurs in the early 20 Century to encourage bourgeois parents, who would otherwise
avoid carnivals due to safety, sanitation and moral concerns, to bring their children in joining the carnival
celebration (Spencer, 1997)
6
An innovation by the young people in the 1980s (koeln.de)
7
Although a tradition in the Middle Ages, it was only revived in 1992 (koeln.de)
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which the pubs and meeting rooms in Cologne and its nearby suburbs are filled with merry
makers. With the concept of a special season dedicated to the carnival celebration, there is
a sense of Otherness which removes the carnival from the actual world in which it takes
place. Together with the symbolic wearing of costumes by the crowd and carnival songs
which are only played during this period, the carnival evokes a certain form of “myth” which
transforms it into a pilgrimage centre (Moore, 1980 p. 209). This myth lies in the existence
of an alternate, illogical world amidst the real world. Visitors entering a mythical world
“*separated+ from their ordinary lives” (Moore, 1980 p. 209), through ritual acts such as
donning a costume or drinking a Koelsch8 beer, are transformed into a reveller at the
carnival.

The carnival procession is like a rite of passage, and visitors are like pilgrims who travel to
the carnival site to experience the ritual of carnival. According to Victor Turner, the rites of
passage is marked by first a detachment from the past state, then a liminal state of
ambiguity, and finally the consummation of the passage (Turner, 2004 p. 79). The Rose
Monday Parade is akin to a rite of passage, during which the revellers leave the real world
behind to enter into the carnival world.

On transforming into revellers, they enter into a liminal state in which they are stripped off
any “social identity, neither what they once were, nor what they are about to become”
(Moore, 1980 p. 210), and rejoice together in communitas of equal individuals (Turner, 2004
p. 80). In the world of the carnival parade, the structural barriers between different social
classes are dissolved. As people don on their costumes, they take on a different identity in
the carnival world which makes them indistinguishable from the other costume wearers.
With the ambiguity in identity and the presence of individuals among large groups of
strangers, equality in status is further enforced as everyone engages in the same activities of
drinking and merry-making throughout the parade.

As visitors flow into Cologne, embracing their new identity and going through the entire
ritual of carnival, their pilgrimage is consummated with the ending of the fifth season on
Ash Wednesday, marking the end of the “meta-pilgrimage” (Moore, 1980 p. 216). The

8
A brand of beer that is made in Cologne and viewed as part of the Cologne identity
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Cologne carnival thus builds its foreign popularity with enticement of its perceived
authenticity and enchantment of its ritualised existence.

Although the carnival has been well entrenched in Cologne culture, it faces certain issues
with regards to its sustainability in the modern world marked by high mobility and
abundance of choices among youths. As the world becomes increasingly globalised, the
carnival clubs and organisation committee can no longer ignore the increasing numbers of
Koelners9 who do not grow up with the carnival celebrations, thus the lack in a sense of
affiliation to the festival. With an abundance of parties and entertainment available in the
modern world, there is also a worrying trend of aging demographic in the carnival clubs,
with a majority of its active members aged between 50 to 70 years old10. With less young
people committed in maintaining the tradition, the carnival risks losing its local support and
flavour as time goes on. While it would still be quite a while more before those well-
established traditions and practices are forgotten, it is nevertheless an area not to be
overlooked. After all, it is with high local participation and engagement that the Cologne
carnival is able to be seen as an authentic tradition which attracts foreign visitors. For the
carnival to continue thriving, it would need to continuously adapt itself to attract local
youths into its organisation to maintain its authentic identity.

The Cologne carnival successfully integrated into the lives of the Koelsches and transformed
from a contrived tradition into an authentic tradition of the Rhineland. This was only
possible with its identity as a continuation of a much longer tradition, right from the
beginning of its organised formation. The traditional image imposed onto the modern
carnival is the very essence which secures local engagement. By establishing the legitimacy
of the modern carnival as an authentic traditional practice, the carnival could easily invent
and create its own practices. Foreign visitors to the carnival would not have been attracted
to make the pilgrimage journey, had it not been the fact that the carnival is a well-
established tradition that is symbiotic to the local identity, thus an authentic myth worth
discovering. The carnival needs to remain in a symbiotic relationship with the Koelsches,
incorporating the Koelners in order to sustain the perceived authenticity of the tradition.

9
ibid note 3
10
Ibid note 2
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Cowell, A. (1996) 'It's a Woman's World (And Men Pay Lip Service)', New York Times, 14th February:
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Pan Pan Gong 2010 University of Melbourne7