Secret until Fasnacht

Regardless of the day of the week, 11.11. is always a public holiday in Rheinfelden. This is when the 5th season of the year is rung in with drums and trumpets in the town. The 11.11. is also the day on which the Fasnachtsgesellschaft Rheinfelden (FGR) announces the motto and the corresponding badge for the coming carnival. And so they did again this year.

This year's motto is "Hüt sind mir d'Mitti" and refers to the area around Rheinfelden railroad station, the Neue Mitte, which is to be developed over the next few years. Voters will vote on this at an extraordinary municipal assembly in March 2024. The message from the carnival revellers should be: "Fasnacht is a great time and we celebrate right in the middle of it."

Board of directors votes

Who decides on the motto of the Rheinfelder Fasnacht? Joël Lässer, FGR President, provides information:

"The motto is determined in a competitive process in which all interested parties are allowed to submit a proposal. The suggestions are submitted anonymously to the board for voting. Everyone on our board can give their three favorite suggestions one to three points and the suggestion with the most points wins the race."

And how do the subjects of the individual cliques come about?

"Each fall, we sit together and think about current topics. They can be local, regional or global," explains Georg Steiger from the Querschläger float clique.

"We usually find each other quickly." And then the existing float is painted accordingly and decorated with accessories. "We have a new costume and a new larva every year," says Steiger. Of course, certain criteria have to be taken into account when choosing the subject. For example, it must not offend or discriminate against anyone and must be ethically acceptable.

The Burg-Stei-Grafen also meet for a motto session in October. The suggestions received are voted on according to a special procedure and the motto that ultimately receives the most votes is chosen.

Their overriding club motto is: Eifach Anderscht. Their carnival motto often refers to current local topics.

"We have so-called motto plates, which we design each year according to the theme and mount on the existing floats," explains Kevin Baumann.

The Burg-Stei-Grafen's costume and larva are traditional floats that are not changed every year.

Subject depends on the costume

On the one hand, the Grüttgrabe Geischter are based on the overarching Rheinfeld motto. On the other hand, they have their own motto, which depends on the costume. The costume committee often uses second-hand costumes.

"We celebrate our anniversary every five years. Then we sew our own new costumes," explains Raphael Scharf from the Grüttgrabe Geischter, which was founded in 1973.

The process of finding and implementing the motifs is a little different for every carnival clique. What is certainly the same for all of them is that the carnival fever is slowly rising and they will soon be in the midst of preparations for the fifth season. Whether they are sewing costumes, painting floats, practising musical pieces, making accessories... everyone's anticipation is growing from day to day. And what all the carnival cliques surveyed have in common is that they don't let the cat out of the bag. They will only reveal their individual motif at the float vernissage on February 27. Nobody finds out anything before then...

Janine Tschopp is a freelance journalist. She writes regularly for the Neue Fricktaler Zeitung, the cultural magazine "2x Rheinfelden" and the Rheinfelden Christmas magazine, among others.