Offenburg: Part Trois - The Narrentreffen

The Narrentreffen in Offenburg began at 1:30 pm. There are not really any of the floats for which Mardi Gras is so famous. It is mainly people on foot. Lots of people on foot.

Roughly translated, Narrentreffen means "gathering of fools". The parade was a mix of three basic components. Part 1 being the Hexenzunft, or witches guilds, each dressed up in its own particular costume. Part 2 being the marching bands, or Fanfarenzug. Part 3 is the most important part, the Kindergrupen or childrens groups.

Enough with the boring prose. Here are some pictures.Above, a kindergrupen. The little guy on the right has an 100% natural dead fish on his stick.
Above, a Fanfarenzug dressed in their traditional garb.

And now for some Hexenzunft. Traditionally, each of the witch guilds has a particular style of mask that is carved from wood. Some are ogres, some are fools, etc. These are pretty impressive. I suppose some of them may be papier mâché these days. But most of them seemed to be wood and strapped onto the head with leather bands.

Notice the fool above in the foreground, with the stick in his hand. There is a rubber bladder-like thing tied to it with a string. He goes around thumping people in the crowd with it.

The group above shows what can be done with clothespins.

Next Episode - Crowd Participation.