IN PICTURES: The wildest 'Rosenmontag' floats at this year's Carnival in Germany
Rosenmontag, as its known in German speaking countries, is more often called Shrove Monday in English, and takes place ahead of Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent in the Christian tradition.
It marks the most ecstatic celebrations in Germany's carnival season which starts months earlier on the 11th of November.
Many German cities, especially those in the west side of the country, celebrate Rosenmontag with lavish parades.
Düsseldorf and Cologne are both known for hosting bombastic parades filled with immaculately decorated floats.
Here's a look at some of the wildest parade floats seen at the Rosenmontag parades this year:
Revellers surround a float on wokeness during the parade to celebrate Rose Monday (Rosenmontag). Photo: Ina Fassbender / AFP
One notable float this year anticipated the criticism some of the parade floats could be expected to receive: an eyeball labelled "wokeness" stares down a nervous-looking man wearing a hat labelled "satire".
Many of the floats in Düsseldorf's parade depict politicians or recent events with sharp satire.
Among the bigger targets of this year's political humour was US President Donald Trump.
Trump was also joined by billionaire turned political force Elon Musk, who has been savaging US public services with cuts recently.
Musk sparked controversy in Germany this year when he repeatedly weighed into the federal elections in support of the far-right AfD.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was also a leading character this year, and he was seen with Trump in scenes depicting recent developments around Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A float portraying Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump forming a 'Hitler - Stalin - Pact 2.0' to squash Ukraine and its President Zelensky. Photo: Ina Fassbender / AFP
Pro-Russian politicians in Germany, including Left Party defector Sahra Wagenknecht and AfD leader Alice Weidel, were also satirised in Cologne this year.
The politicians were depicted on a float bearing the words, "From Moscow with love" and seen brandishing sunflowers with Putin's face on them, bursting out of a suitcase full of money.
Of course, there were more than a few less-than-flattering depictions of the AfD to be seen at the carnival parades.
A float portrays AfD co-leader Alice Weidel as the witch from the tale 'Hänsel and Gretel' trying to lure first voters into her house. Photo: Ina Fassbender / AFP
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel was seen as the witch from the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, trying to lure voters into her house.
Meanwhile, conservative leader and soon-to-be German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was seen as a mule weighed down by a heavy pile of political burdens.
A float portraying Friedrich Merz as donkey trying to pull a cart full of political problems such as 'migration', 'Trump', 'recession', 'debt-brake' and 'AfD'. Photo: Ina Fassbender / AFP
Merz is currently in the process of trying to form a coalition with the centre-right SPD after his centre-right CDU/CSU alliance swept to victory in the federal elections on February 23rd.
In Cologne, the right-wing politician was seen ripping through a red banner with the words "Chancellor Scholz" to turn the word Scholz into "Schmerz" - the German word for pain.
Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also seen on a ship labelled 'Abgesoffen' (sunken), depicting his Social Democrats Party's historically low results in the recent election.
While politics dominated the carnival parades in both Rhineland cities, festival-goers also enjoyed some incisive commentary on wider societal issues.
In a hilarious float that many commuters in Germany will no doubt relate to, the Cologne parade featured a skeleton with flowers and chocolates waiting for a delayed train to Cologne Central Station.
Commentary on the frequency of delayed trains in Germany at Cologne Carnival. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Oliver Berg
The float was capitioned "Liebes Entzug" - or the revocation of love - which plays on the German word 'Zug', meaning train. Deutsche Bahn, Germany's national rail operator, has become notorious for its frequent delays and cancellations in recent years.
Artificial intelligence, which has soared to prominence with tools like ChatGPT in recent years, also made an appearance at Düsseldorf's parade in the form of a robot feasting on a human brain.
A float portraying an Artificial Intelligence robot feeding on a brain. Photo: Ina Fassbender / AFP
According to a report by t-online, around 700,000 were estimated to have attended the parade in Düsseldorf this year.
Seated with a front row view of the procession were local politicians Lord Mayor Stephan Keller (CDU), Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP) and Mona Neubaur (Greens), among others.
In Cologne, meanwhile, around 12,500 people took part in the Rose Monday parades alone, with around a million people travelling to the city to witness the vibrant spectacle.
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