From Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin, no-one is safe when Germans celebrate carnival with floats that satirise politicians.
On Shrove Monday, also called Rosenmontag in Germany, there are large festive parades in numerous German cities, especially in the western cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz.
A feature of these parades are large, colourful floats, many of which feature satirical takes on political figures and recent happenings.
The parade in Düsseldorf is especially known for its comical and biting floats. Here’s a look at some of this year’s shocking and humorous parade features.
Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP.
Germany’s top leaders, including the chancellor and some of his high-ranking cabinet members are always sure to be lampooned in Rosenmontag parades around the country, as are some of the world’s most controversial figureheads.
The above float takes a stab at the efforts of Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder to keep gas-powered cars going in Germany. The pair are seen riding a dinosaur skeleton (a fossil) labelled “combustion engine” (Verbrenner).
Float makers don’t only target German leaders however. No one is off limits, and whoever has grabbed the most headlines in recent months can be expected to make an appearance here.
Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP
This year notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was depicted as a vampire with a text on his wings reading ‘Everyone protects the Perpetrators’ and ‘Everyone ignore the victims’.
Other international features included US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — both of whom have become regular characters at the parade in recent years.
Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP.
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Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP.
Beside the directly political, some floats also tackle contemporary issues and debates. Such as the problem of heavy phone use, and how this is impacting children today.
Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP.
The floats reflect a fine tradition of normally buttoned-up Germans letting their hair down for the originally Christian festival. But as can be seen above, serious and weighty political themes are often the objects of the fun.
“Carnival is bad music, plastered people and a good vibe,” Frederik Held, a 30-year-old sport scientist who lives in Frankfurt, told AFP.
The largest procession takes place in Cologne, traditionally seen as the capital of Germany’s Karneval.
Organisers in the western city arranged for 300,000 bouquets of flowers and 300 tonnes of sweets. Both are thrown from floats as they roll through the city centre.
All the floats depicted here were created under the oversight of Sculptor Jacques Tilly, the head float designer for Düsseldorf’s parade.
While Tilly describes his creations as “foolish and satirical”, not everyone is amused by his work. Tilly is on trial in absentia in Moscow, where he has been accused of spreading false information about the Russian military.
Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP.
The charges he faces in Russia, however, have not stopped the artist from taking aim at the Kremlin with some of his humorous creations.
With reporting by AFP.
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