Reading Roars!

Wolfgang Osinski has kindly published (and translated!) an article of mine on Düsseldorf Blog.  In the article, I comment on beer and several leading (in my opinion) pubs in Reading - The Hop Leaf, The Hobgoblin and Sweeney & Todd - and how they stand out against the brash, money-guzzling chains swamping the centre of town.

Thanks Wolfgang!

Düsseldorf Blog’s Wolfgang has introduced our blog partnership to his readers: Neu beim Düsseldorf Blog: Kooperation mit dem Top-Blog unserer Partnerstadt Reading ["Co-operation with top blog in our twin city Reading"].

Just for fun, I will invent a new word to describe this type of partnership: twogging (an amalgamation of “twinning” and “blogging”). Think it will catch on? Oh.

Several days ago, I announced a partnership between this blog and Düsseldorf Blog. In his first article, Düsseldorf Blog’s Wolfgang Osinski gives us the lowdown on the exciting Düsseldorf carnival, an extravagant period of drinking, singing - and having your tie cut off. Read on…

“Wir haben in Düsseldorf die längste Theke der Welt…” if you hear this, it’s carnival time. The lyrics of Düsseldorf’s most popular carnival song about the Altstadt, the city’s old town, praise the longest bar in the world. This might well be true. There are some 220 bars, pubs and restaurants (including two Irish ones) gathered within a square mile.

Carnival means drinking, joking, singing and not taking things very seriously. We started celebrating carnival back in 1386 around Düsseldorf castle, of which only the tower called “Schlossturm” is left.

Today, there are about a million (okay, might be less) carnival parties, balls and Sitzungen, which means jolly events where speakers, most of them playing a certain role, deliver funny speeches and carnival bands play Schunkellieder accordingly. You don’t know what a Schunkellied is, of course. Schunkeln describes a way of connecting with your neighbour by linking arms with him/her and swaying rhythmically - like in a beer tent. You might have seen that on TV when they show pictures of the opening of Munich Oktoberfest.

There are more than 70 carnival clubs registered in Düsseldorf. They train their dancers, choirs and marching bands all year round for what we call the “fifth season”. Top of the crop are the Guards of the Princess: the red-white guard and the blue-white guard. I have the pleasure and privilege of being a senator of the Prinzengarde Blau-Weiß, which we feel is far superior to the red-whities.

Drinking, as you might guess, is part of the game. The most popular drink is Altbier, the dark and slightly bitter beer, a local sensation brewed only in Düsselorf. The biggest beer website worldwide, www.ratebeer.com, lists Altbier as a specialty. “Schlüssel” Alt, the leading Altbier, is brewed right in the heart of Düsseldorf Altstadt. If you visit Düsseldorf, send me an email in advance and I see to it that you get a guided tour - no kidding.

Carnival is an economical factor for Düsseldorf and now estimated to consume €2.2 billion in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (where Düsseldorf is the capital). This is the extra money spent between November 11^th when it all starts and Aschermittwoch, the sad day (February 21^st ) when it’s all over – until next year.

This carnival season began with a shocking story. Our “Venetia”, as we call our carnival princess, the cute blonde lawyer Miriam [pictured], was rushed to hospital one night in a very serious condition. She had taken an overdose of a medication to treat herpes, and has had too little to drink as her kidneys went on strike. What a terrible thing to happen!

Rheinische Post, the leading newspaper in Düsseldorf, published a web page inviting people to send well wishes to Miriam, and she received thousands of emails. One week later and she was back on stage, promising to drink every day until Aschermittwoch.

Our prince made headlines too with something very special. He is supposed to wear white stockings, as according to tradition. Since he is quite a tall guy (6ft-something), it was a serious problem for him to find stockings the right size. This weekend, he appeared at a session with white trousers! This has never ever happened before in Düsseldorf. All the women yelled at him to drop his trousers – and he obeyed, displaying his torn stockings.

We would love to have you with us at carnival when everybody goes wild in the city. The “serious days” are the ones between Altweiber (old wives carnival) where ties are cut with scissors (well, yes, it must be symbolic somehow) and Rosenmontag (February 19^th), the highlight of the carnival with the huge Düsseldorf Rosenmontagszug (as they call the parade).

My friend Jacques Tilly is the genius behind the parade. He builds the most hilarious and satirical floats that always make the front pages of our newspapers. The one featuring a cardinal lighting a match to burn a woman at the stake, who had performed an abortion, is unforgettable.

Ok, my friends in Reading, see you by the river Rhine. The cheapest air fare should be around €50 (with Air Berlin, flying out of London Stansted). As for accommodation, you should count on a price starting at around €35 for a room. What else? Eating in a restaurant is cheaper than in Reading. The local breweries are fantastic: Schlüssel, Uerige, Füchschen and Schumacher, where you can get a great meal from €10 and an Altbier for €1.60.

Last but not least: Helau! This is what you have to yell at the Rosenmontag parade, and if called for by the president of a Carnival Sitzung. Note, never shout helau without the correct accompanying salute. So, helau – and see you in Düsseldorf!

For more information, visit the official website of the Comite Düsseldorfer Carneval (Düsseldorf Carnival Committee).

You may be aware that Reading has twinning agreements with several towns worldwide, one of them being the city of Düsseldorf, the capital of Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany. Now, quite possibly for the first time ever (or quite possibly not), a twinning agreement has been struck between local blogs: Reading Roars! and Düsseldorf Blog.

Reading’s close relationship with Düsseldorf goes as far back as 1947 (it is described as one of the oldest such relationships in the world), and developed into an official twinning in 1975.

Now this agreement has entered the digital age.

So what does this partnership involve? To begin with, both blogs are now linked to each other. In addition to these reciprocal links, regular posts will be appearing on this blog from Düsseldorf Blog’s Wolfgang Osinski (look out for his first, on the local carnival phenomenon), and I will similarly post on Düsseldorf Blog.

I’m excited about this partnership and hope it will help to promote understanding and awareness of both cultures.