Germany kicks off six days of carnival despite higher security

  24 February 2017    Read: 1283
Germany kicks off six days of carnival despite higher security
Revelers in clown costumes and wigs kicked off six days of merriment on Thursday with Weiberfastnacht or "women`s carnival", traditionally the day when women take over town halls and symbolically "castrate" men by cutting off their ties.
Carnival festivities began at precisely 11:11 a.m. in Cologne and other Catholic parts of Germany despite stormy weather and high security after an Islamist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin in December that killed 12 people.

In Mainz, police chief Achim Zahn appealed to carnival-goers to use common sense and avoid dressing up as suicide bombers with explosive belts, the German website Strand Journal reported.

Donald Trump-style wigs and masks were in high demand across Germany, where carnival activities traditionally poke fun at politicians.

Susanne Mueller, managing director of Festartikel Mueller, a Bavarian-based company that makes party costumes, told Reuters that about 30 percent of her company`s wig production was dedicated to the U.S. president`s blond coiffure this year.

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