Die Geschichte der Kölner Fastnacht von den Anfängen bis 1600

On 9 February 1823, a masquerade procession was held for the first time in Cologne on Shrove Monday, which subsequently became a tradition. In the years that followed, the basic features of Cologne Carnival as we know it today emerged: with a festive committee, carnival sessions, a Rose Monday procession, a masked ball and a prince's guard. But what were the medieval origins of carnival and where do its roots lie? What customs developed over time and what was the significance of Shrovetide and the associated celebrations in the context of the neighbourhood and one's own family? In this volume, Shrovetide is not only described - in part for the first time - on the basis of city accounts and municipal records, but brought back to life through the diary-like Weinsberg Chronicle of a Cologne family and its neighbourhood in the second half of the 16th century. Wolfgang Herborn, knowledgeable historian and expert on the medieval and early modern history of Cologne as well as one of the authors of the major scholarly history of Cologne, has here presented an exciting study of the carnival in the Middle Ages and early modern times, which also dispels old legends and misconceptions.