First Cologne Rosenmontag parade (Rosenmontagszug)

FEB 10 1823

On 10 February 1823 the first organised masked parade passed through Cologne's Neumarkt, staged by a newly formed committee (today's Festkomitee Kölner Karneval). Participants mocked authority, including costumes parodying Prussian soldiers' uniforms, which so alarmed officials that several later processions were cancelled from 1830 to prevent sedition. Now a recurring annual custom.