As I mentioned yesterday, Tübingen does not have a rich tradition of celebrating in the Carnival season that leads up to Lent.

Elsewhere in Germany, where there is a strong Catholic tradition, there are Carnival celebrations that start as early as November 11th.  BTW, in northern cities in Germany, Carnival Season is called Karnivale. In Southern Germany, it is called Fasching. In the Schwabian dialect of German here in Tübingen,  it is called Fasnet.

Which is neither here or there in terms of my understanding of the various traditions in German for this season. One tradition happened last Thursday, when apparently people in costume might try to cut off a tie, if they see a man wearing one.

No, I don’t know why.

I’m also not really sure why the local tradition is for groups from towns to dress up all alike; each group is different from the other, but within each group, the costumes are all alike. It’s a a sort of uniform, I guess, that can come complete with cow bells, animal pelts and small whips with which to “beat” the non-believers. The costumes are usually completed by hideous or scary or just somewhat odd-looking wooden masks. In addition, there were also carts of giant pretzels, as well as a group dressed as giant chickens.

You can see all of those things, and more,  in the photos below from the Fasnet parade that happened on Sunday, February 5th here in Tübingen. It’s a “modern” thing in Tübingen, dating back only twenty years or so. We never made it to the nearby towns where they have the traditional parades that go back hundreds of years. Maybe next year.

BTW, look for Chris in the final two photos having a “stare-down” with a guy in a mask (who initiated it). It lasted a full minute or more.

For the record, the guy in the mask was no match for the guy in the hat. 😉