So I live in the Netherlands, in a city called Kaaiendonk in the South of the country.
Except, usually this isn’t Kaaiendonk, it’s usually called Oosterhout.
But for three days a year, it gets a new name.
Other Dutch cities have their name changed too. They even change the signs leading into town.
But, that’s insane, think of the tourists it must be double dutch to them.
So why would anyone do this?
The short answer is it’s done to celebrate Carnival,
the Western Christian festival held just before the season of Lent, but we can go a little deeper.
The etymology gives us a hit to its purpose,
the word Carnival comes from the Late Latin expression carne levare meaning "remove meat",
a reference to the upcoming fasting and penance of Lent,
and indicating Carnival’s status as the last chance to have a good party.
The festival itself has pre christian origins, with celebrations of the lengthening of days
and the fertility of crops, being adopted by the early church,
in the same way as the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia was adapted by christians to form Christmas.
In the Middle Ages Carnival was celebrated with performances, games, cockfights,
and dressing up to mock authority figures.
Within the festivities, the reversal of social norms is an important theme here.
One of the Key traditions of Carnival today is the mayor giving the key to the city to a Prince Carnival,
and this was already practiced in the middle ages.
In any case, the local authorities were never very keen on the mocking. The festivities were banned by many rulers.
But traditions, centuries old, don’t disappear at a rulers desire.
This was doubly true when the rulers became Prodestant, while their subjects remained Catholic.
Carnaval, in the form now celebrated in Germany and the Netherlands today, originates in the German Rhineland.
Under the Holy Roman Empire, Cologne was important and powerful,
first as the seat of one the three spiritual electors,
and later as a free imperial city independent of the Archbishopric.
But with the city occupied by Napoleon and later annexed by Prussia,
it’s Free status was lost, along with its political importance.
The citizens wanted to celebrate their glorious past, and in 1823 organised the first Carnaval parade
to rival the extravagant entries of the Habsburg emperors
and mock the Prussians with the entry of a Prince in Renaissance dress
and accompanied by Soldiers in 17th century uniforms.
These traditions spread to influence the carnival in the Netherlands,
particularly the nearby province of Limburg, who today celebrate the Rhenish variant.
The tradition of changing the name of a city had Dutch origins however,
specifically in North Brabant as part of the Burgundian Carnaval.
As far as I can tell the tradition began in 's-Hertogenbosch.
In 1881 the bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch tried to have the feast banned.
However, members of the middle class were less keen to see their party canceled.
They met in a bar behind the town hall and concocted a plan.
The fashionable city would be renamed for three days as Oeteldonk, a lowly farming village.
A parade was held for the first time in the city and attracted 28,000 visitors.
The plan was wildly successful,
and in later years the Dutch Railways had to provide special night trains to bring visitors home safely.
Given this success it seems inevitable that other cities would soon adopt the idea.
So, what do the names themselves mean?
Both Oeteldonk and Kaaiendonk end with “donk”,
The meaning of this is fairly straightforward, it's a dry hill in a swamp.
And indeed surrounding 's-Hertogenbosch was once swamp, this is after all the lowlands.
The Oetel from Oeteldonk is less clear.
It’s sometimes said to mean “frog”, and a frog is a carnival symbol for the city,
however, it most likely comes from the family name “Van den Oetelaar”
a common name from the nearby village of den Dungen,
the birthplace of the Bishop whose ban caused the name change to begin with.
Kaaiendonk, like several other Dutch cities, includes a variation of “kei” in its carnival name.
This would normally mean “boulder”, but in carnival it doesn’t (because of cause it doesn’t).
The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, the dutch equivalent to the Oxford English Dictionary
gives an old definition of kei as fool
a reference to Sir Kay of King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table,
who, according to the Woordenboek, was halfway between fool and hero.
There are too many cities to list them all here, links below,
but if you could what would you rename your city? Let me know in the comments.
And if you are a concerned tourist, don’t worry too much about the signs,
the other side of the road has the city's standard Dutch name for you to contend with.
This video was made with the help of great people like you on Patreon. The theme tune was by Richard Jones.
And as always thanks to everyone who supports the channel.