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Burning of nubs in front of Cologne Cathedral
Photo: Henning Kaiser / dpa
For the first time, the street carnival in Cologne ended with an official burning of the Nubbel in front of the cathedral.
The Nubbel, usually a straw doll, atones for the sins committed by people during carnival by being burned.
So far, the Nubbelverbrennungen have only occurred on a smaller scale in pubs.
But on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Cologne Rose Monday procession this year, it was decided to give the whole thing a larger and more beautiful setting, said a spokesman for the carnival society "Die Grosse von 1823" of the German Press Agency.
So far, not too many have noticed the nubbel burn, the spokesman said.
»For many, Carnival almost ends on Shrove Monday.
Only the hard-nosed insiders then join in the burning of the nubs.« Now they want to give the whole thing a more official character.
"It should also be something that definitely has perspective for repetition."
The Nubbel is traditionally burned in Cologne on the night of Ash Wednesday.
The custom only emerged after the Second World War, before which the nubbel was burned at the end of a fair.
In Kölsch, if you don't know where someone is, you also say: »Dä es bei Nubbel!« (He's with the Nubbel!)
czl/dpa
