Carnival society

In Cologne, a distinction is made between committee and corps societies as well as the "Veedelsvereine" (carnival clubs of the city's districts).

Also known as the "Fifth Season", it finishes on Ash Wednesday of the following year with the main festivities happening around Rose Monday (Rosenmontag).

[2][3] In Rhineland, the committee that organizes the events in each town consists of a president and 10 junior members and is called the "Council of Eleven" or Elferrat.

The number eleven, elf in German, is significant in Carneval celebrations because it is an acronym for the French Revolution values of egalité, liberté, fraternité.

The oldest of the Cologne corps companies is the Rote Funken [de], which is said to have been founded in 1823 in the Weinwirtschaft Im Häuschen.