Overview

• The Rosenmontag parades in Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Mainz attracted over a million attendees, with Düsseldorf alone hosting around 700,000 participants.
• Donald Trump was a central figure of satire, depicted on multiple floats as a threat to democracy, including one showing him and Putin crushing Ukraine in a 'Hitler-Stalin Pact 2.0.'
• Alice Weidel, leader of the AfD, was portrayed as a witch luring young voters with social media and Nazi symbolism, sparking significant backlash and threats against the float's creator.
• Other floats critiqued global figures like Elon Musk, shown as an unhinged right-wing troll, and Olaf Scholz, depicted steering Germany's government into collapse.
• The carnival's floats also addressed broader themes, including authoritarianism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the challenges facing Germany's newly elected leadership.