"Koelle Alaaf - Long live Cologne," somebody shouted and tossed a bottle of the famous Cologne beer called "Koelsch" on the street. It was that special time of the year when almost all inhabitants of Cologne are getting drunk, partying for almost one week, laughing and meeting people they would not ever meet.

In the dark Middle Ages, when life was very strict due to the rigid rules of state and church people needed a sort of a valve to get rid of the constraints of life. However, church and state tolerated for a certain period of time that people would gather in the streets wearing costumes and masks to have fun - the escape from social routine. Therefore, even today there are not only four seasons of the year but there is a fifth season: the Cologne carnival. The main event of this period of time certainly is the "Rosenmontagszug", a procession of masked people and musicians taking place on the last Monday before the beginning of Lent. This procession is so well-known in Germany that it is broadcasted live on TV every year.

However, apart from the well-known and commercial events there is an alternative kind of carnival developing in the city. A carnival which takes up old traditions of witchcraft and mystery which had long been forgotten. For several years now, the "Geisterzug", a ghost procession, has taken place on the Saturday before the traditional commercial processions.

The "Geisterzug" is different from all the conventional events and especially liked by mostly young people for whom the traditional carnival has become too commercial. Its history dates back to the early ages when the poor created their own carnival procession because they were not allowed to join the normal ones. In recent years, it has always had a certain motto, like "integration of foreign Cologne residents", "many different cultures and traditions fit together",... The participants walk through a certain district and it usually endswith a big party in a nearby pub.

This time the "Geisterzug" took place in the old part of the town. A crowd of people was gathering around at the old market square and waiting for the procession to start. Lots of people - most of them women, of course - were queueing outside the two Irish pubs in order to get rid of the masses of beer they had already consumed. Waiting for a vacant toilet in one of the pubs, a woman saw a map of Ireland pinned on the wall. She looked at the town names which sometimes sounded funny to her. "Look at this, she shouted at the woman behind her, there is a county called "Mayo" - - - like mayonnaise! Isn't that funny?" -"And there: Achill Island!". Memories to the Achill(es) of Homer's saga returned. Besides, the feet of quite a few women were aching, as if someone had hit their Achilles' Heels....

They were already very jolly, talking and laughing to each other. A girl in a tiger costume raised her glass to a dark monk. "Cheers!" she shouted.

A few minutes later, the crowd started walking. The monk linked his arms with the girl in the tiger costume on the one side and a black-dressed witch with a skateboard. They were walking around the old part of the town and along the promenade of the Rhine. The moon was shining and there were a lot of stars in the sky. In contrast to the traditional carnival procession, there wasn't any carnival band, but some people had brought their own instruments or were simply blowing in whistles. The party was supposed to take place at a big House of Culture which used to be a fire station in former times, but as always, the organisation of the "Geisterzug" was a bit chaotic and people were not sure how to get there. After a short discussion, the monk, the witch and the tiger and some others passed the central station and moved on to Cologne-Nippes.

Finally they arrived at the House of Culture where they met the others, who had taken a different way, again. Merlin was standing in the yard and selling pancakes. The monk, the witch and the tiger all felt quite hungry and each bought one. Then they were ready to get in and start dancing.

Late at night, a senior lady entered the house. Everybody was staring at her since she didn't wear a costume and was completely sober. The witch came downstairs. "Are you looking for someone?" she asked. "Yes. I have to pick up my neighbour's daughter. Have you seen a vampire?" - "Yes, there are a lot of them upstairs. You can just come along and have a look."