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Carnival season opens in Cologne with tens of thousands of costumed revellers

Carnival begins every year at 11:11 am on the 11th day of the 11th month. Cologne is the epicentre of the parties in Germany, but other cities like Dusseldorf also erupt into tomfoolery. After November 11, the season percolates for a few months in the more Catholic parts of Germany, culminating in a week of parades and parties before Ash Wednesday in February.

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The roots of Carnival go back to the far distant past, but in the winter of 1822-23, representatives of Cologne's upper class took measures to subdue what they saw as excessively crude and anarchic Carnival behaviour.