Cologne: “Fear that Putin is so power hungry that he just keeps going”
nOf course, the Kölsch also flows on this Rose Monday, which is not a normal Rose Monday. Golden-yellow 0.2 glasses are served at the open window of the “Em Scheffge” pub, while the morning tips over into midday. Again and again a waitress pushes past Hans-Pelter Welter, who is swaying with a woman at the window.
Welter wears a blue and yellow carnival hat. The 61-year-old is a member of the “True Hussar Blue-Yellow from 1925” carnival society. This year, this color combination is perfect, as many of the people passing by are wearing blue and yellow, the flag of Ukraine. There is no traditional Rose Monday procession in Cologne this year, but a peace demonstration.
Because of Corona, the carnival float should only drive in circles in the soccer stadium of 1. FC Köln anyway. Then, last week, Russia attacked the Ukraine, and the Cologne Carnival festival committee had changed its plans at short notice. A bloody, collapsed peace dove can now be seen on a wagon, impaled by a Russian flag.
Putin’s war mobilizes the people. Since the Russian invasion, the population has gathered in many cities for rallies. About 100,000 people came to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Sunday. According to the police, there are 250,000 participants in Cologne on Monday.
The outrage over Putin’s attack on Ukraine, the fear of a further escalation brings everyone together. This demo has little in common with the traditional left-wing, Marxist-influenced peace movement, which primarily demonstrates reflexively against NATO, against the USA and for Russia and China.
Putin has also destroyed old certainties among these organized peace movements. Their flags can be seen sporadically in the crowd in Cologne, but, as in Berlin, a fresh protest by the broad civilian population dominates: with sober and drunk people, with political and non-political people, with young and old, with disguises and Uniate costumes, with locals and Foreign.
Even a loyal hussar like Hans-Peter Welter becomes a peace fighter: “We show our solidarity and say: No war in Ukraine,” says the carnival enthusiast and emphasizes: “You should celebrate right now.”
It’s clear who the bad guy is here
Even when cheerful Ufftata music comes from the “Scheffge”, the mood on the street remains subdued. Most of them still walk along the intended route, in between some bang on their drums. It’s clear who the bad guy is here: “Stop Putin”, “Fuck off, Putin”, “Putin go home” is written on posters they have painted themselves; a poster shows the Russian president with a little Hitler beard and parting.
Ursula Thomas and her friends are standing on the side of the road. They wear the red and white coat of arms of Cologne as a costume and hold up signs with the Cologne inscription “Jeck noh Fridde”, translated: “crazy about peace”.
Thomas says they had a long discussion about dressing up and going to the demo this year. “We have come to the conclusion that it is important to fly the flag. In Cologne, we are committed to freedom and love,” says the 63-year-old from Cologne. “Carnival is also a demonstration of joie de vivre.”
The peace column is dammed up at the Waidmarkt crossing. Five young people from the neighboring town of Rösrath are right in the middle of it all: Merle, Leonie, Dennis, Matthias and Ole. With the exception of Leonie, who has already taken part in Fridays for Future, it is the first political demo for 16 and 17-year-olds. They’ll graduate next year.
“War can break out from one day to the next. I’m afraid that Putin is so greedy for power that he’ll just keep going,” says Matthias. “You just have to set an example now. The only thing we can do right now to support Ukraine is to go to demonstrations like this.” He thinks it’s good that the federal government is supplying arms to Ukraine.
Sarah and Kevin are not carnival fans. But they really wanted to go to the peace demonstration on Shrove Monday. The couple from Cologne are standing on the side of the road with blue and yellow protective masks that they have made and stapled together. They came “because boundaries were crossed,” as Kevin puts it.
“I didn’t think it was possible today to simply invade a country. That completely insane my world view.” It was “super clever” that Shrove Monday was converted into a peace demonstration, says Sarah.
Among the demonstrators, a woman holds the sign “I’m Russian and I don’t want war”. It is Mrs. Litvinova, 61 years old, born in Moscow. She has lived in Germany for 20 years. “I’m very, very bad,” she says. She is at the demo with friends from Ukraine. “I trust Putin to do everything,” she says. Soon she takes in two women who fled from Ukraine in her house.
Away from the demo, several young people are standing around. Some are disguised. They carry an empty beer crate and bawl around. Basti and Nick from Wuppertal are among them. You know that there is war in Ukraine. “We try to mistake it. We ignore the war,” says Nick. “You can celebrate carnival even though there is war in Ukraine,” says Basti. “To be honest, there’s always war somewhere.”