"Fastnacht in Franken" - the first live pompous session after the pandemic was so emotionally reminiscent of the late President of the State Parliament, Barbara Stamm
Franconia in a celebratory mood.
No matter how trembling the earth may be, the red carpet across which Bavaria's political celebrities march into the heart of cheerfulness makes no waves.
Instead of news about war, climate change and inflation, the 600 or so guests in the packed Mainfrankensäle in Veitshöchheim thirst for brightly colored costumes, jokes and confetti for the soul.
The "Fastnacht in Franken" reported back live on Bavarian television for the first time in two years on Friday evening.
Celebrate in real time - that's what the fools, who got emotional right from the start, can do.
Volker Heissmann recalled one person who could not be missing from any of the iconic pompous meetings: Barbara Stamm († 77), President of the Bavarian State Parliament, who died in October 2022.
Many of the show's artists were at her grave to decorate it with this year's Mardi Gras medal.
"But Barbara wouldn't have wanted us to be miserable," says Heissmann.
Your empty "regular" place will be occupied by remarkable people in the future: like the nurse Karen Müller from the University Hospital Würzburg, who stood by the politician to the end and celebrated that evening.
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Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) came very casually as a hippie to "Carnival in Franconia"
© dpa
It was exuberant at the "Fastnacht in Franken", where the Bavarian cabinet was put through the wringer with great devotion.
Especially, of course, Prime Minister Markus Söder, who dressed up as a tribal elder in the election year, "leading Bavaria through the storms of the times".
A steep template - not only for his followers on the net, who commented on his costume with the words "Moses Söder, the divider of the nation".
Volker Heissmann and Martin Rassau also scoffed: “We have already puzzled behind the scenes.
Is he Abraham or, as Moses, is he simply writing his commandments himself?”
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Selfie with a lion: Green parliamentary group leader Ludwig Hartmann (left) with FDP parliamentary group leader Martin Hagen, who dressed up with his wife as Harry and Meghan
© Hartmann/private
Two Bavarians sat in front of the stage: Ilse Aigner (CSU), president of the state parliament, and Katharina Schulze, leader of the Greens parliamentary group, or, as the fools joked, "Grandmother and Mama Bavaria".
Otherwise, the Franconians dosed mockery and scorn with sense and reason: cabaret artist Michl Müller, the sharp-tongued Ines Procter as the cult cleaning lady, the Altneihauser Feierwehrkapellen and of course the hippopotamus Amanda - they all ignited a real entertainment fireworks display after years of reticence.
There was standing applause for the first carnival prince in the history of the show: Büttenprofi Peter Kuhn.
He also provided thoughtful moments in his marathon speech.
"Reichsbürger" working on the overthrow, the debacle surrounding the desolate Bundeswehr, the war in Ukraine and energy shortages: "It seems to me that the world has just gone crazy everywhere."