Düsseldorf’s satirical parade mocks global leaders as its designer faces a Russian trial for his political artwork.
DÜSSELDORF: From Vladimir Putin to Donald Trump, Germany’s carnival season unleashed its trademark political satire with biting floats.
The Russian president is a recurring target for head float designer Jacques Tilly, who is now on trial in absentia in Moscow.
He is accused of spreading false information about the Russian military through his artwork. “Humour can hurt and definitely affect those targeted,” Tilly told AFP in December, promising this year’s parade would remain “foolish and satirical”.
Tilly’s 2026 creations include a papier-mâché Putin being struck by a jester labelled “satire”. Another float depicted the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as a devil, accompanied by text reading “everyone protects the perpetrators”.
One design shows Trump and Putin feasting on a small blonde figure marked “Europe”. Another lampoons German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Bavarian leader Markus Soeder riding a skeleton with a steering wheel labelled “combustion engine”.
The float references their efforts to water down a planned EU ban on such engines. Tilly’s previous work has shown Putin bathing in blood and behind bars.
The trial marks the first time the sculptor has been charged by a court for his carnival creations. He was informed of the proceedings via Russian pro-democracy activists based in western Germany.
The tradition allows normally reserved Germans to let loose during the Christian festival. “Carnival is bad music, plastered people and a good vibe,” said Frederik Held, a 30-year-old sport scientist from Frankfurt.
“Everything’s better with confetti,” he added while heading to a procession in Mainz. The largest celebration occurs in Cologne, the traditional carnival capital.
Organisers there prepared 300,000 flower bouquets and 300 tonnes of sweets to throw from floats. Mariana Leshkovych of the pro-Ukraine Blue Yellow Cross group attended in national colours.
She said supporting freedom of expression was crucial. “We are here in Cologne to represent this, to support humour and criticism of those in power,” Leshkovych told AFP.