The fools are on the loose again …
Cologne – The new carnival session begins on the eleventh eleventh at eleven eleven – the carnivalists say session, not season.
Then why exactly? It is unknown. There are only guesses: It’s a schnapps number, a fool’s number, as one would have said in the Middle Ages. One more than the ten fingers and one less than the twelve apostles. Nothing half and nothing whole.
In addition, November 11th, St. Martin’s Day, earlier marked the end of the harvest season. This was celebrated with a roast, the St. Martin’s goose. At the same time one liked to drink a glass too much. After the work was done, people had a good time – especially since a fasting period began until Christmas afterwards.
Magic number
Today in the carnival strongholds a lot has to do with the number eleven. Meetings do not start on the hour, but eleven minutes later, and are chaired by the Elferrat.
For those inexperienced in Carnival, it is surprising that on 11.11. all hell breaks loose for a day, and then the fools pretend nothing has happened again. Only in the new year does the session really start with the session carnival. dpa
