High-emission tractors and trucks will power carnival wagons in German cities again this year - including in Munich, where new driving bans on internal combustion vehicles have been in force since the beginning of the month. Will the carnival tradition also become greener in the coming years?
After a two-year break, the traditional carnival procession of the Damische Ritter (Knights of Dam) is once again making its way through Munich's old town. Confetti, costumes and colourfully decorated parade floats made it possible to celebrate on the streets of the Bavarian capital yesterday. The problem? As magical as the atmosphere may be, it wasn't magic spells that brought carnival floats to life - but real, dirty combustion engines.
Indeed, there are always many diesel and petrol vehicles, such as tractors and small trucks, used in German carnival parades. Around 40 were pulled through Munich's old town last Sunday, for example, by diesel-powered vehicles. Ultimately, this is no surprise. After all, large, emission-rich floats have been part of carnival parades for a long time. Not only in Germany are they popular for their colourful appearance. In Munich, however, the last hour has now struck for them. In the light of the new laws, diesel-powered carnival floats should not have been allowed to take part in the parade at all.
Since 1 February, a new diesel driving ban has been in force in Munich, which prohibits vehicles of Euronorm 4 and lower from driving within the Mittlerer Ring. An emission standard that the many floats would certainly not be able to meet - which would therefore have required a special permit from the city. A special permit that the movers could not apply for in time at the Kreisverwaltungsreferat (KVR) so soon after the ban came into effect. "For a short time we feared that the carnival procession could not take place as planned," Alexander Spannruf of the Damische Rittern states. However, an interim solution could be found - to the delight of all carnival fans, but not the environment. All diesel drivers were exceptionally allowed by the KVR to take part in the carnival parade - as long as no decision has been made on their application for a special permit. According to the district administration department, all that is needed is confirmation of a suitable application.
Only this year, and for the initial period of the ban, were such concessions made. At the next carnival, the colourful floats will then need a permit to diesel through the city. But it would be even better if in the next few years this tradition also went through an ecological turnaround. With greener vehicles and alternative modes of propulsion, cities could experiment at carnival time to keep the carnival spirit alive without harming the environment to do so.
Will more and more environmentally friendly carnival floats hit the streets in the future? Or will an official permit still be enough for a long time to ignore environmental zone regulations and diesel driving bans - and consequently continue to pollute the air? The answer will only come with future carnival parades.