Some jokes and giggles are very long standing, a pretty large part of the Rhinelandic carnival tradition traces back to mocking the (napoleonic) French, for example…
Which once? None of them that i know come from the occupation but like the rest to mock clergy, nobility, the upper crust in general and ofc some good old germanic paganism
Especially the carnival sessions (with the council of 11, and fanfares after someone speaks, which is a mockery of the official proceedings the French occupation introduced), and the significance of the number 11 as such, as a mockery of the French revolutionary slogan “Egalité, Liberteé, Fraternité”, which was frequently abbreviated as ELF, meaning eleven in German, and used in all sorts of documents and inscriptions of the occupation authorities.
Some jokes and giggles are very long standing, a pretty large part of the Rhinelandic carnival tradition traces back to mocking the (napoleonic) French, for example…
Which once? None of them that i know come from the occupation but like the rest to mock clergy, nobility, the upper crust in general and ofc some good old germanic paganism
Especially the carnival sessions (with the council of 11, and fanfares after someone speaks, which is a mockery of the official proceedings the French occupation introduced), and the significance of the number 11 as such, as a mockery of the French revolutionary slogan “Egalité, Liberteé, Fraternité”, which was frequently abbreviated as ELF, meaning eleven in German, and used in all sorts of documents and inscriptions of the occupation authorities.
The more you know :)