Burn, baby, burn!

If you wander the streets tonight around midnight you might stumble across the last of many carnival traditions. In squares and back streets around the city you may well discover a "man shaped figure" being set alight and burned to a crisp by delighted, roaring crowds. Don't worry - it's not the head of the KVB finally being brought to justice for destabilising the city with his cut price Nord-Süd Bahn tunnelling - it's the Nubbel - and he has to be burnt every year to take away the many, many sins committed over the five long days of carnival. The Nubbel is a straw figure put up over the entrance to pubs and bars at the start of carnival. His job is to absorb the many "sins" committed by carnival revellers over the five crazy days and then he is ritually burnt so all the sins go up in flames with the Nubbel. The tradition is relatively new in carnival terms, it only goes back to around 1913 when a Nubbel was burnt in the Buchheimer Kirmes. It was only in the 1950's that the tradition took hold across the city. Nowadays Nubbel burnings - or "Nubbelverbrenung" is quite common, but not always advertised - so you'll need to ask around or wander the streets around midnight to find a good "burning". Remember: on Ashen Mittwoch - or Ash Wednesday - life is back to normal - no more laughing, smiling, drunken, costumed Rhinelander’s - it's back to business as usual - with an almighty hangover.