Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1897-05-04
THE COLOGNE CARNIVAL.
Features of the Rhenish Celebration
and Its Legendary Suggestion.

Features of the Rhenish Celebration
and Its Legendary Suggestion.
The carnival, which on the Rivera
has resolved itself into a mere dis
play Of tourist extravaganza, and in
Italy has sunk to the level of street
rowdyism, still holds its ground in
some parts of Germany as festival of
historic and artistic importance. The
Dusseldorf "masques" are already
well known, and have been often de-
scribed; less visited, and consequent
ly less touched by modern innova-
ton, are the rites of carnival as OBJ
served at Cologne, whose Rose Mon
day procession still winds round the
Dom-platz as it did before the Dom
had replaced the Petrus-Kirche of
the tenth century-possibly before
the Petrus-Kirche succeeded to the
old Temple of Jupiter, occupying
the same site till the days Of Constan-
tine.
The Cologne carnival to-day is a
lineal descendant of the Roman Sat-
urnalia, which followed in the wake
Of Claudius and Agrippina, when
they held court at Colonia, the birth
place Of the empress. The Roman
Catholic church, which has ever been
specially successful in adapting to her
own ends the existing materials Of
other systems, incorporated the wild
revelry of her Roman converts into
her legitimate round of observances
connected with the Christian year,
and so brought about a compromise
between heather license and Chris
tian austerity, which was a master
stroke of policy. Centuries later, Gin
the grievous falling away of north
ern Europe from Catholicismthro
the baneful influence of Luther" the
carnival again came forward as a
permissible indulgence to such of
the faithful as should undertake to
observe Lent soberly and austerely;
and to keep the balance true" a CON
siderable latitude in morals and man
ners was winked at by the priests,
and oblitcrated by the ashes of the
Lenten penance.
Again in the early years of this cen
fury the German carnival revived as
the nation regained its elasticity after
the wars of Napoleon. In 1923 the
floating traditions and historical, or
rather old-age, observances of car
nival were collected and rcGUccd to
\ system, which has ever since been
used in the Rhenish celebration as
year by year the season comes round
for "Prince Carnival" to occupy his
three-days' throne. There is no city
in Europe which is more stepped in
legend than Cologne, and the under
lying meaning of many of the car
nival features preserves the whole
from becoming vulgarized, as things
are vulgarized nowadays, by public
ity and extravaganza. In the Rose
Monday procession there are numer-
Gus touches Of history; the hearty,
blooming young countrywomen who
precede the Stadt-Thurm are sur
vival from the third century of st.
Ursula's companions in travel and
martyrdom, the Heiligen- Magde; the
Stadt-Thurm itself is model of one
of the town towers as KoelhotT must
have known it when he printed his
"Cornica van der hilligen Stat Coel-
len" in 1900; the city flag on its top
bears the il ermines which st. Ur-
sula brought as her cognizance from
The Funken troops who
guard the whole are dressed in the
garb of those mercenaries of the
archbishops, who, for so many cen
turtles were alike the foes and the
butts of the Kolner folk.-New Sat
urday Review, London.