How Does the Cologne Carnival in the 21st Century Differ from Its Beginnings?

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Cultural Studies - Empiric Cultural Studies, grade: 2,0, University of Bonn, language: English, abstract: "Kölle Alaaf" is the battle cry for the kickoff to the Cologne Carnival session. In the year 1733, Kölle Alaaf first appears as praise and drinking phrase. It means 'just Cologne'.In this essay, I will have a deeper look at the relation between the historical Cologne Carnival in its beginnings and the modern Carnival in 2010. For this, I will talk about the Carnival Session itself to demonstrate what the story is behind the six days of Carnival. The Thursday is no usual weekday anymore, but the start of a week in which Cologne is in an exceptional state. Furthermore, I would like to focus on the question of the roots of the Cologne Carnival and the misinterpretation thereof and how this is still common today. To compare the beginnings of the Cologne Carnival with the one today, one needs a historical point of view. Insofar, I have studied the history of the Cologne Carnival and examined the most significant events. My main attention lies with the human interaction and behavior, the exercised customs and the further development of the tradition of Cologne. At the end of my essay, I will show the main characters of the Cologne Carnival. This essay should answer the question of what the Cologne Carnival means today. The focus is on my main question "How does the Cologne Carnival in the 21st Century differ from its beginnings?" This essay leads you through the history of the Cologne Carnival and how its forms developed. The conclusion will give you an overview over my worked out insights.