As of: February 6, 2024, 6:30 a.m
By: Andreas Steppan
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Colorful hustle and bustle, lots of fun and even mockery of politics are part of carnival parades - here is an archive photo from the Lenggrieser Gaudiwurm 2016. But boundaries can sometimes be exceeded.
© Hias Krinner
Carnival parades are free of fools.
But how far can the representations go?
Where does it become too political or even discriminatory?
For the organizers it is sometimes a balancing act.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen
- The slogan “No to mass asylum accommodation in Warngau/Holzkirchen”, plus a car crew with black painted faces and water wings: This car was part of the Sachsenkam tractor rally on Sunday.
Hans Liebhart, 2nd board member of the organizing boys' club, is annoyed that exactly this aspect was given too much space in our newspaper's reporting.
Sachsenkam: Depiction of asylum seekers “not racist”
The tractor rally was “purely a fun event”, there was no political orientation, and they even deliberately wanted to keep polarizing topics out of the mix.
Liebhart finds it distorting when, out of 23 funny cars, a single one is singled out.
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And he doesn't see anything wrong with that either.
The portrayal of asylum seekers “was certainly not racist or discriminatory,” he believes.
The statement from the car was not directed against the people for whom the Miesbach district is currently building a container accommodation with 500 places, but against the type of accommodation.
In his opinion, no visitor found the car offensive.
The boys' club did not have the topics of the cars presented to them in advance.
“But we pointed out that no one should be personally attacked,” said the second board member.
It should be a carnival procession and not a political demonstration.
Bernd Schöpf, board member “Beira Maschkera”
Overall, the topic of politics at the carnival procession is a balancing act, says Bernd Schöpf, board member of “Beira Maschkera”.
“There has to be freedom of expression, otherwise it’s not a carnival,” he states.
On the other hand, he says: “It should be a carnival procession and not a political demonstration.” For him, the limit lies with harsh personal attacks or with anti-Semitic or racist content.
The mere fact that a Mashkera is dressed as a black person doesn't count for him.
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At the Benediktbeuren carnival procession, the float builders present their content in advance. This year, Schöpf says he convinced the float builders to switch to regional content on four political issues.
On the Monday before the carnival procession, the finished representations will also be inspected as part of the TÜV inspection.
You also want to take a closer look at the train on Shrove Tuesday.
Background: Last year a group of conspiracy theorists crept in.
Bichl carnival procession: The topic of hailstorms is taboo
No bans, but advice: that's what the Maschkeraverein Bichl offers.
From CEO Sebastian Bauer’s point of view, politics and ridicule when something goes wrong are part of it – “but with common sense,” he says.
According to him, the issues will be discussed at a meeting.
It is important to “be careful that certain things are not misunderstood,” says Bauer.
One topic will be left out of the Bichler carnival procession this year: the hailstorm.
“People were fighting for their existence, that shouldn’t be played out.”
Lenggrieser Carnival Association is sensitive to the issue of gender
The Lenggrieser association “Mia sans” has had its experiences.
At the last edition of the Gaudiwurm in 2016 there was a discriminatory portrayal of trans woman Amanda Reiter.
The organizing club had not seen the car beforehand and distanced itself afterwards.
In general, says chairman Michael Gascha, “what you can and are allowed to say” has changed significantly in recent years.
“It starts with the fact that it can be interpreted negatively if you dress up as an Indian or if you paint yourself black.” A “big barrel” is the issue of asylum policy.
“Of course you can blow up the government on a carnival float.
But you have to make sure that you don't slip to the right.” When it comes to the “gender issue”, it's also important not to offend anyone.
The topic of asylum policy is left out in Lenggries
“All of this was a big topic in the planning,” reports Gascha.
The result is an agreement drawn up by the lawyer between the association and the wagon builders.
The latter guarantee that the club can look at the cars in advance and that nothing will be changed afterwards.
There were no complaints during an initial tour of the cars last week, said Gascha.
“Of course there are a few harsher blows against politics and the traffic light government, you can't deny that to anyone.” But everyone stuck to the fact that the issue of asylum was excluded and that “individuals in close proximity” were taboo.
Anyone who has not yet completed this assessment must send the club photos of the car from all sides.
The final release will only take place on Sunday, the day of the carnival parade.