Rose Monday in Cologne 250,000 people demonstrate for peace

Cologne · "Mir sin alle nur Mensche" - We are all just people: Where the carnival floats normally roll through Cologne on Shrove Monday, this time a huge peace demonstration is parading through the city. One prominent Cologne resident is particularly proud.

 More than a quarter of a million people demonstrated for peace and democracy in Cologne on Shrove Monday.

More than a quarter of a million people demonstrated for peace and democracy in Cologne on Shrove Monday.

Foto: dpa/Eduard Bopp

More than a quarter of a million people demonstrated for peace and democracy in Cologne on Shrove Monday. Both the police and the Cologne Carnival Festival Committee put the number of participants at over 250,000.

Despite the crowds, the demonstration procession passed off without incident, they said. "I think this is the most important Shrove Monday procession since I have been in the world," said the well-known musician Peter Brings (57) on WDR television.

In speeches, Carnival President Christoph Kuckelkorn and Lord Mayor Henriette Reker (non-party) expressed solidarity with both Ukraine and the anti-war demonstrators in Russia. "Mr Putin, stop the madness! Stop the war!" shouted Kuckelkorn. Reker stressed, "I feel boundless admiration for all the brave Russians who have already been taking to the streets of their country since Friday." Minutes of thunderous applause from the audience was the response.

Costumed and non-costumed people marched together through the streets. Many carried banners with inscriptions such as "Putin Go Home" and "Dear Russian people, be Russians not Putinians". This was accompanied by songs such as "Alle Menschen werden Brüder" and "Mir sin alle nur Mensche" (We are all just people) by Brings. Before the start of the march, the Cologne Carnival Festival Committee raised white doves of peace.

Participants described a subdued, predominantly serious atmosphere. Cologne carnivalists had decided to hold a peace demonstration on the day the war began. The normal Shrove Monday parade through the city had already been cancelled earlier because of Corona. As a replacement, the procession was supposed to roll through the football stadium, but that was also cancelled.

In the afternoon, Kuckelkorn took stock: "The people of Cologne and the carnival showed today that everyone stands together when it counts," he said. "Today was not about boisterous celebration, but about loud and colourful protest against the war in Ukraine." The procession was led by a carnival float featuring a dove of peace impaled by a Russian flag.

"That makes me very proud of my city," said BAP singer Wolfgang Niedecken on WDR television. The "highest Cologne holiday", Rosenmontag, had been transformed into a solidarity rally for peace and democracy. All participants behaved responsibly: "I don't see a single one without a mask.

North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst also walked in the demo. "This is the best way to be on your feet today, namely to demonstrate for peace and freedom in Europe," the CDU politician told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

In Düsseldorf, the Shrove Monday procession had already been postponed to the end of May weeks ago because of Corona. However, a single float by Jacques Tilly on the Ukraine war rolled through the city. The larger-than-life caricature made of wire mesh and papier-mâché showed Vladimir Putin shoving Ukraine down his throat and the slogan "Choke on it!!!".

Original text: dpa

Translation: Mareike Graepel

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