German Listening Practice | Karneval in Deutschland (Slow Podcast)

Hello and welcome to the German podcast I'm Eleo a language teacher and this is my podcast for German learners o help you practice your German listening skills You can listen to the podcast on Spotify and other podcast platforms or watch it on YouTube and turn on the subtitles if you'd like to follow along with the text Today's topic is one that's currently very relevant in Germany and emotionally discussed It's about Carnival Right now in many places across Germany you might go to the supermarket for example and And at the checkout a pirate is sitting while a princess ahead of you is stuffing her purchases into her bag and behind you stands a giraffe This isn't a movie—it's Carnival in Germany and that's what I want to talk about today In many regions of Germany we say Carnival in others we say Fastnacht and in some areas we also say Shrovetide And in other regions Carnival Fasching or Fastnacht isn't celebrated at all These are regional differences yes the regional variation I'm speaking today about Carnival and will no longer mention it every time as either Fasching or Fastnacht But just so you know in Germany we don't call it Carnival everywhere Another regional difference is that Carnival is celebrated much more enthusiastically in certain areas and in others not at all But what is Carnival really What happens during Carnival I think it might be interesting to observe it initially from a child's perspective Carnival as a child is something truly special something magical You wake up in the morning and dress up putting on a costume For example one might dress up as a princess or a tiger And on this day during Carnival they can slip into a different role adopt another identity And that brings great joy to many children Then it happens that children come to many schools and kindergartens dressed up and then celebrated in kindergartens and schools with games played and dancing making it a very fun day for children After school or kindergarten many children go on outings Moving the moves—they're parades that march or roll through the city These parades consist of vehicles one being a large truck with costumed people standing on or around the vehicle Throw the candies from the cart That's the parade It consists of vehicles as well as dancers or musicians who march along during the parade And alongside the parade on the side many children and also many adults are standing and catch the candies that people toss from the carts And when you're standing there at a parade you might shout things like Hello I love you or Kamelle Kamelle for example are the candies You call them out and catch the candies As a child that's obviously awesome Children usually go home from the parades with large bags full of candy And whatever else one might say about the parades is that there are also some wagons with political messages There are for example large cardboard cutouts of politicians that look funny It's satire after all Yes that's what makes fun of politicians You laugh at them Satire But not all moves and not all relocations are political—though those exist too Yes as a child you then go home with a big bag of candies and have fun dressing up And adults often dress up at Carnival too Yes dressing up and costumes are an important part of Carnival And it's not just in schools and kindergartens where children dress up but there are also adults who show up to work dressed up And it's truly funny when you walk through a city celebrating Carnival Because everywhere there are people in disguise— in the supermarket on the train at the bank in the pharmacy People dressed in costumes are everywhere throughout the city This is a true state of emergency Also the state of emergency the exception yes the deviation from the norm and the state of emergency It's one thing it's completely different from usual Carnival brings a state of exception to the city But where does Carnival actually come from What is the origin of Carnival Carnival originally began as a religious festival More precisely Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent which I'll get to shortly And Carnival is a major celebration before Lent During Lent people fast For instance give up alcohol or sweets and live a little more calmly They fast during the fasting period And Carnival is right before Lent So another chance to celebrate properly before the quiet calmer Lenten season begins However many people who celebrate Carnival today are not religious or do not view it as a religious festival but rather as a cultural celebration And what's also interesting is that Carnival formerly also served the purpose and function of reversing social order and social hierarchies This meant a poor person could dress up as a king and mock the wealthy even making fun of the king himself And behind the disguise behind the mask this poor soul then became anonymous and slipped into another role Just shake up the social order for a day or a few days—nothing drastic just a little disruption And I think Carnival was surely also an outlet a way for people to release pressure and just completely letting loose to celebrate Letting loose means celebrating very joyfully very wildly And now comes something that confuses many people a bit: Carnival begins on November 11 at 11:11 a m Yes Carnival starts in November That's when the Carnival season begins It 's like a kickoff a start That lasts for one day the 11th of November Then comes the real extended carnival in February But on November 11th carnival is also celebrated in the city with many people dressing up parades and processions And last November on the last 11th of November I took you through the city I asked many people on the street what they had dressed up as If you haven't seen the video yet I'll post the link in the description so you can watch it And beneath this video some of you left comments asking why do you celebrate Carnival in November when Carnival is in February I've just explained that again in detail Carnival is celebrated one day in November and then for several days in February Let's take a look at the days in February It begins with Women's Carnival Originally traditionally this was the day when women symbolically seized power such as storming town halls It was also a symbolic reversal of the power dynamic Today in some regions it's common for women to cut men's ties on Women's Carnival Night o continue this symbolism Then there is Carnival Sunday There are many parades in towns and cities as well as processions And the big day with the largest parades is then Rose Monday That's where the largest carnival parades take place and that's where many people celebrate Carnival or Fasching in numerous cities Then comes Shrove Tuesday or Violet Tuesday depending on the region And on this Tuesday there will be another parade though slightly smaller than Rose Monday Then comes Ash Wednesday Carnival is over then and Lent begins Generally speaking this week runs from Women's Carnival to Ash Wednesday There are many parties for children for adults private ones at people's homes and public events There are numerous carnival and Mardi Gras parties celebrated all around the world However there are also some people who do not view Carnival in such a positive light A very common criticism of Carnival is the large amount of alcohol consumed There is a lot of noise and trash in cities I think safety is also an issue many people criticize Also the frequent occurrence of racist costumes—think cultural appropriation and so on There are already many people who truly don’t have good costumes and that’s heavily criticized What else could possibly be silly about Carnival Also I personally find Carnival culturally very fascinating I can have a lot of fun during Carnival I find it really funny to dress up with my girlfriends and go around the city singing and dancing Incidentally there's also a lot of carnival music—songs that are only sung and listened to during carnival season And yes I can have a lot of fun during Carnival I think it really depends on where with whom and how you celebrate Carnival I don’t enjoy Carnival everywhere but whenever I’m with my girlfriends I always have a great time during Carnival I also understand why many people find Carnival exhausting and I find some of the criticism justified Carnival is extremely intense and many people flee from cities where it is celebrated with great fervor Because they don't want to live in a city under emergency conditions I can understand that too How about you Is Carnival or a similar festival celebrated where you live If you were in Germany right now would you put on a costume dress up and celebrate Carnival Or would you rather flee the city escaping the carnival Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments And if you're listening on Spotify feel free to vote whether you'd party or flee In the last podcast episode I asked in the Spotify poll whether you're also feeling a bit out of it And over 60 percent— I think 63 percent—said they were hungover That’s two-thirds That surprised me but also pleased me Meaning I'm not the only clueless person on this channel And beneath the final video in the last episode on YouTube you all came up with many fascinating theories about what might have happened to my bicycle Thank you I'm sorry but I don't have any further updates The situation remains unchanged It stays a mystery And many of you have also shared awkward moments and cringe-worthy stories about yourselves in the comments That would be really funny And I'd like to read one of the comments aloud Hold on Alright Alessandro wrote on YouTube I once found myself completely clueless in a situation I was in London or rather in Windsor It was the final day of my trip and I had lunch at McDonald's I placed my phone on the tray during dinner After I threw away the trash that had been on the tray I didn’t realize my phone was still on it I suddenly realized my phone was no longer with me as I was already on the street I was naturally completely desperate and tried to remember where my phone might be Then it hit me that I might have thrown it out with the trash I immediately went back into McDonald's and searched the trash can for my phone There was a lot of trash and when I looked back the line behind me had grown even longer People had to wait for me to throw away their trash That made me even more desperate I'm sorry Eventually I asked the McDonald's security guard for help and he assisted me in finding my phone Today three years later I find this story pretty funny but back then I was really worried Yes Alessandro thank you so much for sharing your truly bizarre utterly bizarre story Good that you can laugh about it now I found it very funny too and I could really relate I'm curious to hear what you share beneath this video about how Carnival is celebrated where you are and I'm already looking forward to writing with you Then goodbye