City history: Pointenreichtum and local wit at the Bocholter Rosenmontagszug of 1968

Usually, the carnival with its colorful hustle and bustle formally reaches its climax as the fifth season on Rose Monday. This was also the case in 1968, when the citizens' association for the promotion of the Bocholt carnival procession, the transport association and other groups, such as the BoKaGe, regulars' tables and neighborhoods, called for lively participation in the parade of fools. This is now commemorated by the historical photo of the month, published by the Bocholt municipal archive.

Lord Mayor Günther Hochgartz proclaimed at the Prince Proclamation on November 11, 1967, "that an orderly procession on Rose Monday can be an attraction for our city and, more importantly, a joyous experience for spectators."

The fifth postwar Rose Monday parade was preceded by a flurry of carnival events in the weeks leading up to it. But there was also a great deal of silence regarding the months of preparation by the float builders. "Such a day, as wonderful as today ..." was the motto at the Bocholt carnival at that time. And this was to prove true: According to public opinion, the Shrove Monday parade of February 26, 1968, with more than 50,000 spectators, was the most beautiful and largest since the end of the war.

Fast boat "Seedadler" replicated

20 floats, seven brass bands and five marching bands, two cavalcades and groups from surrounding communities took part. The procession started in the afternoon at Meckenemplatz (today Berliner Platz) and moved through the entire old town until it disbanded at the Lichtburg cinema. The regulars' table of the "bad boys" from the restaurant "Zum Timp" came up with a particularly attractive float every year so far. In 1968 they took part in the procession with an overlong replica of the speedboat "Seeadler", which had been equipped with a functioning radar unit and with numerous top flags. The photo shows the brightly clad replica of the ship on the Aabrücke bridge in front of the striking building of Café Eilers. Countless spectators awaited the participants there in sunny winter weather during the final phase of the procession.

A wealth of punchlines and local wit

The 1968 Shrove Monday procession was characterized by a wealth of punchlines, local wit and humor. The theme floats included a jumping hill of the BoKaGe fanfare corps, a vehicle with the title "Bocholt as a city of ponds and fountains" by the regulars' group "Möpse Mölders" and a vehicle with the "Bridge of Sighs" by the Funkentötern. Also the fairy tale group of the "Nach(t)-Bar-Schaft Bärendorf mingled with the carnivalists. In total, the prince and princess Leo I. (Bröcker) and Marianne II. (Siebelt) distributed about 30 hundredweight of sweets among the Bocholt carnival crowd.