Mini carnival Man from Bonn recreates Rose Monday procession out of Playmobil
Everyone is there, from Bonnorange to the Comicus Circus: The 12-metre-long Bonn carnival procession made of Playmobil is passing through Roland Goseberg’s office. His mini parade can be seen on YouTube on Monday.
There have been times in the past when the carnival parades in Bonn have been cancelled - during the flood disaster of 1962, for example, or in 1991 during the Gulf War. But it has certainly never been the case that before Weiberfastnacht (carnival Thursday) the floats and groups of people are already making their way past the cheering spectators along Friedrichstraße. This year, however, the time has come.
Although the almost 15-metre-long procession of Playmobil figures that Roland Goseberg has set up in the rooms of his agency Rheinline is a little calmer. Quiet carnival music plays in the background, and there are no Kamelle (sweets and giveaways) being thrown, but instead very fine confetti made of aluminium foil. “It has to be true to scale”, Goseberg explains.
His Playmobil procession is nothing special, he claims. At the moment, several processions of cuddly toys or other playthings can be seen on the internet. But this Rose Monday procession is characterised by particularly strict attention to detail. Goseberg has tried to recreate as many groups as possible and put them in the right order. For example, the traditional Ehrengarde (Guards of Honour) and the Bad Honnef Comicus Circus can be found in the colourful procession, and the choice of Friedrichstraße as the setting, with its true-to-original façades, is no coincidence, as this is where the office of the Rheinline agency is located.
The Bonn carnival enthusiast got the idea from an appeal by the Bonn Carnival Festival Committee, which encouraged children to build and film their own Rose Monday parades and to show them all on Rose Monday. "I thought that was an incredible idea. I really wanted to do it together with my family. But it got a bit out of hand," admits Goseberg.
Officially, of course, he did it for his children. The kitchen table at home was originally planned as the venue, but it quickly proved to be too small. It took him two days to arrange the 300 figures with great attention to detail. Of course, his girlfriend Constanze and two children Pauline (7) and Emil (4) had to lend a hand. "It took a lot of time to put the figures together correctly and to make the little signs, like the one for the Ehrengarde and the WDR. And then we built the complete street of Friedrichstraße as a backdrop," reports Goseberg.
At that moment, there is a lot of shouting behind him at the procession. His son Emil has accidently knocked over some pieces, and the domino effect has then taken a few more with it. "And you experience other setbacks too," murmurs Goseberg as he surveys the damage. With delicate fingers he puts the figures back in place, and then it can finally get going: The cameras are rolling, because on Rose Monday the procession is to be shown on YouTube. “D’r Zoch kütt", they say, (“the procession is coming”), and his parade starts to make its way through the colourful Playmobil Jecks.
Just like in real life, the float with the Prince and Bonna forms the end of the procession, followed by some street cleaners from Bonnorange, whom Goseberg has also thought of. "It's a pity they can't really help me," he laughs when the procession is over. "I was just wondering if the tinfoil confetti was such a good idea," he adds thoughtfully, looking over at his agency's computers, their fans humming softly as they suck in the air.
(Original text: Benjamin Westhoff, Translation: Caroline Kusch)
