Coop says: “Forget the Freemasons, the illuminati, or Bill Gates. If you have the stomach for it, gaze upon the faces of the men who truly do run this sick and corrupt world. I will probably be quickly and quietly ‘disappeared’ for revealing this.” Link
Reader comments:
Michael says:
Seems Boing Boing is discovering Germany after all (see Xeni’s “Raumpatrouille Orion” post). Though the images shown are from the Netherlands, costumes like these are extremely popular (and extremely prestigous) in the German Carnival Mardi Gras (adopted by the Dutch too). German Carnival runs from November 11 (@11:11:am) until about 4 weeks prior to Easter. It is based on pagan rites of driving out winter. but especially in the Rhine area (Mainz, Cologne, Düsseldorf) it turned into opposition against the French occupation in the 19th century. People made phantasy uniforms based on the French uniforms and made parodistic military dances all under the disguise of the Carnival celebrations. There is a brief English article on Wikipedia.
Nowadays, this subversive festivities have turned into a serious (in every aspect) business. To become “Prince Carnival” (as shown on the pics) cost you a lot of money and dedication, but is connected with serious business aspects. The “organized carnival” as they call themselves have strict rules and sometime it’s really pathetic. In many cities there are movements for an easygoing “alternative carnival” which rests on the same historic roots, but is again subversive, funny and unrespectful.
You get some more (recent) pics via this search
Joris says:
On the off chance that you are really interested why the hell middle-aged men dress up in such a fashion (and not just point-and-laugh at peculiar clothes).
This is a gallery of pictures of the line of ‘prince carnaval’ of the Dutch village of Heijen.
‘Prince carnaval’ is the head of carnival during this period. Carnival is only celebrated in the provinces Brabant and Limburg of The Netherlands. During the 5 day height of carnival, the prince becomes the defacto mayor of the city/town/village, the city is then known with its carnival name and everyone parties dressed up. Quite a lot of beer is involved in this. The celebration itself is mentioned in documents from 1673 and is considered one of the true highlights of the year in the South of the Netherlands.
Sandy says:
In case you don’t know who the Masters are: they’re the past and present Princes from the Carnaval Club “de Wortelpin” (sort of means “carrot pin”) in Heijen, a tiny village in the Netherlands. Each year every Carnaval Club elects a new Prince and his Council of 11 men. I’ve put a message in their guestbook to let them know of their notoriety (so watch your back!)
My husband is Dutch and when we lived in Boskoop (another tiny Dutch village) he was a member of the Carnaval Club “de Krooshappers”. If you click on their gallery (fotoboek) then on “Raad van 11” you can see THESE masters of the world are all clowns! (Theme for this year in Boskoop).
Interestingly, Carnaval in the Netherlands officially starts at 11:11am on 11 November – which in Australia is Remembrance Day for the war dead, quite a contrast.
I also wanted to mention that one of the nice things about Carnaval in the Netherlands is that it is NOT just for the young and gorgeous, like its counterpart in Brazil. There are parties for people of all ages, from children to the elderly; a street procession with costumes, and several big parties. Even small villages will have several Carnaval Clubs, but they all go to the same parties. The main party is, of course, one big booze up. Most of the village is drunk for three days. I won a prize for my pig costume (I was actually meant to be a merino, but who cares…)
Walter says:
The Dutch princes of carnaval are known for making people disappear, indeed. They’re the ‘mayor’ of the southern cities and towns in the Netherlands for a short period in february, and people tend to go lost in that few days – mostly because of drinking to much beer. They reappear with a hangover, eventually.
Personally, i’m glad I don’t live in the south.
Rogier says:
Take it from an ex-Dutchman, now a naturalized Yankee: Those mirth-inducing photos have to do with a centuries-old Dutch tradition called carnaval.
Every year in the spring, in Holland’s southernmost two provinces, Brabant and Limburg, a day or two is set aside for merry-making. People dress up in preposterous costumes, drink large quantities of beer, and take part in — or toast — the parade floats that every self-respecting town puts on.
The festivities take place under the auspices of ‘Prince Carnaval,’ who commands a Council of Eleven (eleven being the number of zaniness). A new Prince Carnaval — one in each town — is locally elected every year. Those pictures you linked to, of the guys in the startlingly awful get-up, are the portraits of the successive princes in the town of Heijen, Limburg.
Carnaval is celebrated elsewhere in the world too — Germany and Brazil come to mind, although only the Brazilian version has made into America’s pop-culture consciousness.