NIghtmares Revisited... or a Trip to Bad Canstatt

Over a year from my last wandering! Today's was started by finding this clipping in a scrapbook of my mother's that I am disassembling to preserve what matters most. But, what was this clipping? One of the "failures" of my education has been not learning German, so I have to resort to Google Translate to start this search. While I didn't type it all in, I did get enough from the beginning:

For the carnival parade on Sunday

Traffic orders from the police headquarters

During the carnival procession in Bad Canstatt on Sunday, February 1, like the police headquarters, around 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Brunnenstrasse between Wilhelmstrasse and Schmiddener Strasse, Hofener Strasse ...

OK, more street closings and a map. I have no idea what my mother intended by saving this, but yikes it brought me back in time ... to a time when I had a recurrent nightmare brought on my attending a parade. Well, this was obviously the parade.


First step in wandering is to find out which year this was -- either 1958 or 1959. Google makes that easy: Entering "day of the week february 1, 1959" reveals that was a Sunday, matching the story (to be honest, I checked 1958 first and that was a Saturday!).

So, about this nightmare. I had it for a number of years growing up and often thought it recurred on the anniversary of what initially triggered it--having got very frightened by evil clowns, etc., while watching a parade in Germany. Well, this must have been that very parade. So wandering now meant seeing what I could find out about it; step two!

This search is just a minor variation of the first, but adding some detail: february 1, 1959, carnival Bad Cannstatt. And that was enough to find it all out. The first and third hits:

1. Living in Stuttgart article on "Fasching in Stuttgart" from January 2019: "Rio has its Carnival, New Orleans Mardi Gras and we here in Baden-Württemberg celebrate Fasching. Or Fasnet. Or Fasnacht… Well, we have different names for it but in the end it is one festival. In this post I want to point out how we celebrate Fasching in Stuttgart and where you can go to join the party."
   
   And more--subtitle "Fasching in Stuttgart – wild masks and characters" followed by these photos.



2. The Stuttgart Citizen (appropriately, "Stuttgart Military Community information published by the U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart Public Affairs Office", since we were living in Stuttgart from 1956 to 1959 as my father was stationed there) article on "What is Fasching? Street parades, costumes, celebrations in Germany" from February 1, 2018:
   
   "Fasching or “Fastnacht” originates in the word “fasting” and marks the week leading up to Ash Wednesday, where the 40-day Lent before Easter begins. For many Germans, Fasching represents a time when citizens “let off steam,” and live it up before Lent. Typically, Fasching is celebrated with fests, parades, music and many “foolish” events."
   
   "In Stuttgart, Bad Cannstatt’s “Kü-belesmarkt” Fasching association kicks off the area’s first Fasching events on Greasy Thursday, or women’s carnival, by setting up the “Narrenbaum,” or fool’s pole, at the Marktplatz, followed by a parade throughout the downtown area. "

I don't think I need to see any more! These images are enough to suggest that a 7 1/2 year old wasn't turned on to this. And they match conceptually with what I remember:














Wikipedia has more information on Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht.

I have no idea why Mom saved this clipping -- just a map showing parade route and street closings -- and no amount of Googling will help with that. I don't know if I had immediate nightmares, but must have had my first one soon after going to the parade. [If there is anything else to google it is about bad dreams and clowns, but the results for that are in the thousands! Here's just one: "Here’s Why You’re Terrified of Creepy Clowns" from the Daily Beast.]